Play Accordion solitaire
All 52 cards in a row. Tap a pile, then tap the pile next to it or three places to its left, if their top cards match in suit or rank. The goal is one pile; fewer piles is better.
Deal 0 moves 0:00
Challenge a friend to this exact deal. Win it first and the link carries your moves and time.
Game options
How to play on this page
- Squeeze: tap a pile. Its one or two possible landing piles get a dashed outline. Tap one and the whole pile moves on top of it; the row closes up. Tapping the selected pile again moves it next door when that is allowed.
- Pile sizes: the small number on a card is how many cards are in that pile. Only the top card counts for matching.
- Hint picks a move that reduces the pile count. It looks ahead only a little, so it does not know the winning order; finding that is the game.
- Keyboard: arrow keys move between piles, Enter selects and drops, Escape lets go, Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y undo and redo.
The rules this game follows
- One deck, face up in a row, left to right. By default the whole deck is laid out at once; the traditional one-card-at-a-time deal is an option.
- A pile may move onto the pile directly to its left or the pile three places to its left when their top cards share a suit or a rank.
- Moves are optional. You win with a single pile.
Our Accordion rules page walks through an example row move by move and explains why a computer can win almost every deal while people rarely do.
Use undo to explore
Every move changes which piles are neighbors, so the number of possible move orders explodes after a few turns. That is why the game rewards looking ahead and why unlimited undo matters more here than in most solitaires: try a line, count the piles it leaves, step back and try another. Replay this deal resets the same 52 cards, and Share this deal lets someone else attempt the exact row you are stuck on.
Accordion questions
Which piles can a pile jump onto?
Only two: the pile directly to its left, or the pile exactly three places to its left. The top cards must share a suit or a rank. Count piles, not cards.
The row wraps onto several lines. Does that change anything?
No. The piles read like lines of text: the last pile of one line sits directly before the first pile of the next, and "three to the left" counts across the line break.
Should I lay out the whole deck or deal one card at a time?
Laying it all out is the default here, because seeing every card lets you plan. Dealing one at a time is the traditional way; pick it under Game options and tap the stock to deal each card.
What counts as a good result?
One pile is a full win and rare in real play. Alfred Sheinwold suggested counting five piles or fewer as a win, and the end-of-game message tells you when you made it.