Patience (Europe), card solitaire or solitaire (US/Canada), is a genre of

card games A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ga ...

whose common feature is that the aim is to arrange the cards in some systematic order or, in a few cases, to pair them off in order to discard them. Most are intended for play by a single player, but there are also "excellent games of patience for two or more players".

Name

'Patience' is the earliest recorded name for this type of card game in both British and American sources. The word is French in origin, these games being "regarded as an exercise in patience." Although the name solitaire became common in North America for this type of game during the 20th century, British games scholar

David Parlett David Parlett (born 18 May 1939 in London) is a games scholar, historian, and translator from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. He is the president of the British Skat Association. His published works include many pop ...

notes that there are good reasons for preferring the name 'patience'. Firstly, a patience is a card game, whereas a solitaire is any one-player game, including those played with dominoes or peg and board games. Secondly, any game of patience may be played competitively by two or more players. American games authors Wood and Goddard state that "Patience is any game played with playing cards in which the object is to arrange the cards... in some systematic order." They note that "there are excellent games of Patience for two or more players; but most... are designed for one player" and that "Solitaire...properly applies to any game that one player can play alone."Wood & Goddard (1940), p. 241. In practice, in North America the name 'solitaire' is often used ''

totum pro parte ''Totum pro parte'' is Latin for "the whole for a part"; it refers to a kind of metonymy. The plural is ''tota pro partibus'', "wholes for parts". In a context of language, it means something is named after something of which it is only a part (o ...

'' to refer to single-player card games, although sometimes the term 'card solitaire' is used for clarity. Meanwhile, in other countries 'solitaire' specifically refers to one-player board and table games, especially

peg solitaire Peg solitaire, Solo Noble or simply Solitaire is a board game for one player involving movement of pegs on a board with holes. Some sets use marbles in a board with indentations. The game is known as solitaire in Britain and as peg solitaire in ...

. Both solitaire and patience are sometimes used loosely to refer to the game of Klondike. Authors writing internationally tend to include both "patience" and "solitaire" in the title, but sometimes the phrase "card games for one" is used instead.

Card size and format

Patience or solitaire cards are normally smaller than standard cards measuring about 67 x 42 mm.''Patience Cards and their Boxes''
at World of Playing Cards. Retrieved 12 February 2022. However, packs labelled 'Patience' have also been produced in standard size (c. 88 x 58 mm) and are also marketed as miniature cards measuring about 45 x 32 mm. They are frequently sold as twin packs in a single box, since many patiences and solitaires require two full decks of cards. The two packs may have different back designs which, however, does not affect the play.

Game names

The earliest English and American sources tended to use the definite article before the names of games e.g. "The Beleaguered Castle", "The Clock", "The Gathering of the Clans", "The House on the Hill", etc. The word "Patience" or, in American sources, "Solitaire" was also often appended to names e.g. "The Baroness Patience", "Czarina Patience", "Gateway Solitaire", "Missing Link Solitaire", etc. These tendencies have largely been dropped in modern sources, especially where books are aimed at a worldwide market. However, in a few instances they are sometimes retained, for example, where the name is an adjective e.g. "The Blind Patience" or the definite article seems more evocative or meaningful e.g. "The Plot". American sources sometimes change the names of games where the title has a European theme e.g. "British Constitution" is just "Constitution" and "Duchess of Luynes" is "Grand Duchess".

Overview

Patience or solitaire games are usually for a single player, although a small number have been designed for two and, in rare cases, three or even four players. They are games of skill or chance or a combination of the two. There are three classes of patience grouped by aim or object. * Building sequences. The most common involves building cards in sequences, usually by suit. The cards of a shuffled pack are dealt into a prescribed

layout Layout may refer to: * Page layout, the arrangement of visual elements on a page ** Comprehensive layout (comp), a proposed page layout presented by a designer to their client * Layout (computing), the process of calculating the position of obje ...

on a table top. Cards are then moved and placed so as to eventually arrange them in ascending (e.g. Ace to King) or

descending sequence Games of patience, or (card) solitaires as they are usually called in North America, have their own 'language' of specialised terms such as "building down", "packing", "foundations", "talon" and "tableau". Once learnt they are helpful in de ...

. Occasionally both are aimed at in the same game. The card starting the required sequence is known as the

foundation card Games of patience, or (card) solitaires as they are usually called in North America, have their own 'language' of specialised terms such as "building down", "packing", "foundations", "talon" and "tableau". Once learnt they are helpful in des ...

or base card and the

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

is said to be built upon this card. In some cases, foundation cards are placed in position at the start; in others they are only laid down as they come to hand during the course of play. In some instances the cards of the sequence must be of the same suit as the foundation card; in others, suit is disregarded. Some games permit the temporary creation of auxiliary sequences (descending or ascending), i.e. groups of cards in succession but not yet ready to be played to the families or sequences on the foundations. * Pairing. A second object of many patiences is to 'pair' cards and then discard them. If the player is able to throw out all the cards in this way, the game is out i.e. won. * Totalling. A third object is to discard any two cards whose combined value forms a particular total, say eleven or thirteen; the game is out if the player can get rid of all the cards this way.Hoffmann, Professor (1892), pp. 1–6. It will be obvious that the endeavour to arrange, pair, or combine the cards of a whole pack is a difficult task, varying in degree according to the rules of the particular game. The player must therefore be prepared for a good many failures, sometimes when he or she has all but reached the goal of success. Hence why the name 'patience games' has been give to recreations of this description.

History

Patience is thought to be German or Scandinavian in origin. The game became popular in France in the early 19th century, reaching Britain and America in the latter half. The earliest known recording of a game of patience occurred in 1788 in the German game anthology ''Das neue Königliche L'Hombre-Spiel''. Before this, there were no literary mentions of such games in large game

compendium A compendium (plural: compendia or compendiums) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a s ...

s such as

Charles Cotton Charles Cotton (28 April 1630 – 16 February 1687) was an English poet and writer, best known for translating the work of Michel de Montaigne from the French, for his contributions to ''The Compleat Angler'', and for the influential ''The Comp ...

's ''

The Compleat Gamester ''The Compleat Gamester'', first published in 1674, is one of the earliest known English-language games compendia. It was published anonymously, but later attributed to Charles Cotton (1630–1687). Further editions appeared in the period up to 1 ...

'' (1674) and Abbé Bellecour's ''Academie des Jeux'' (1674). Patience was first mentioned in literature shortly after cartomantic layouts were developed circa 1765, suggesting a connection between the two. This theory is supported by the name of the game in

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

and

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

, ''kabal(e)''. An 1895 account describes a variant of the game exclusively used for cartomancy. The first collection of patience card games in the English language is attributed to

Lady Adelaide Cadogan Lady Adelaide Cadogan (née Paget; 1820–1890) was a British noblewoman and prodigious author, most noted for her seminal work on plays and card games. She used her title in her publications and that is how she is generally styled. Biography ...

through her ''Illustrated Games of Patience'', published in about 1870 and reprinted several times. Other collections quickly followed such as ''Patience'' by Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney (1869), ''Amusement for Invalids'' by Annie B. Henshaw (1870), and later ''Dick's Games of Patience''. Other books about patience written towards the end of the 19th century were by H. E. Jones (a.k.a.

Cavendish Cavendish may refer to: People * The House of Cavendish, a British aristocratic family * Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673), British poet, philosopher, and scientist * Cavendish (author) (1831–1899), pen name of Henry Jones, English auth ...

Angelo Lewis Professor Hoffmann (1839–1919) was the pseudonym of Angelo John Lewis, an English-born barrister and writer who has been described as "the most prolific and influential magic author and translator until modern times."

(a.k.a.

Professor Hoffmann Professor Hoffmann (1839–1919) was the pseudonym of Angelo John Lewis, an English-born barrister and writer who has been described as "the most prolific and influential magic author and translator until modern times."

), Basil Dalton, Ernest Bergholt, and

Mary Whitmore Jones Mary Elizabeth Whitmore Jones ( 1823 – 1915) was an English author and the first female heir of Chastleton House. She was unmarried and did not have any children.

Types

Patience or solitaire games may be grouped together in various ways as follows: * By aim or object (building, pairing or totalling) - see above * By family under their progenitor or best known variant e.g. Klondike or Napoleon at St Helena * By starting information (closed, open, or half-open) and mechanism (building or packing, etc.) - see below Most patience or solitaire games involve building sequences of cards in suit in order in a

running from ace to king. Normally the ace is the base card or foundation on which a two of the same suit is placed, followed by a three and so on. This is

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...

and all such games are, technically, builders. However, in many, the cards must be assembled in reverse order on that part of the layout called the

tableau Tableau (French for 'little table' literally, also used to mean 'picture'; tableaux or, rarely, tableaus) may refer to: Arts * ''Tableau'', a series of four paintings by Piet Mondrian titled ''Tableau I'' through to ''Tableau IV'' * ''Tableau viv ...

. They can then be built in the right sequence on the foundations. This intermediate step of reverse building is called packing, and games using this technique are called "packers". Games that use neither technique are "non-builders". There are also special kinds of packer known as 'blockades', 'planners' and 'spiders'. These games may be classified by the degree to which the cards are revealed. In "open games", all the cards are visible throughout the game and the player has to use powers of analysis to solve the patience. In "closed" games, cards are drawn from a face-down stock and the player has to use judgement because the sequence of cards is unknown until they appear. In between is a hybrid group which

calls "half-open".

Closed games

Closed games are those in which, throughout the game, not all the cards are visible. They require more judgment because the sequence of cards is unknown. As cards appear, if they cannot be played straight away they are put into a wastepile from which they may, potentially, not be accessible again. Closed games are subdivided as follows: * Simple builders. Typically the aim of a simple builder is to build cards in suit sequence on the Aces which form the foundations. They are 'simple' in that the player has little or no choice in playing and just needs to watch for opportunities to build, any card that cannot be built being discarded to a wastepile where it may, of course, become inaccessible. Cards may be played from the wastepile or the hand and when the hand cards are exhausted it may be possible to 'redeal' by playing through the wastepile, usually for a limited number of times. * Reserved builders. An elaboration of the simple builder is to deal a number of cards to a 'reserve', thus increasing the number of cards available to play. * Simple packers. Packers enable cards to be built in reverse sequences on the layout - sometimes called 'auxiliary sequences', before playing them to the foundations in the correct sequence. Building in reverse sequence is known as 'packing'. * Reserved packers Reserved packers combine the features of having a reserve of cards and also the ability to pack in reverse sequence before laying off to the foundations. * Non-builders The aim of a non-builder is not to build suit sequences, but some other objective. In many of them the aim is to discard the entire pack or packs by pairing cards of the same rank or adding up to a given number.

Open games

In open games, the entire pack of cards is visible at the outset and continue to be visible throughout the game. These games require careful analysis (as in chess) to achieve success. Open games may be divided into: * Open builders. A family of builders in which all the cards are faced at the start of play. * Open packers. Likewise a family of packers in which all the cards are visible at the outset. * Open non-builders. A branch of open patiences in which the aim is other than build suit sequences.

Half-open games

Half-open games are those which start 'closed' and become 'open' as the game progresses. They may be divided as follows: * Half-open builders. These are games where the aim is to build up suit sequences without the help of packing in reverse order first. Unlike simple builders, there is no wastepile, but cards are added to the layout if they cannot be built until the game reaches a point where all the unbuilt cards are visible and the game becomes one of analysis. * Blockades. A small family of builders named after British Blockade in which the cards are only available if there is no card below (or sometimes above) it. * Planners. A large family of builders with a high skill level. Cards are played to the foundations or to several wastepiles, the top cards of which are always available to play. * Half-open packers. These are packers where, during the course of the game, all the remaining cards eventually become visible. * Spiders. A small family of games named after

Spider Solitaire Spider is a type of patience game, and is one of the more popular two-deck solitaire games. The game originates in 1949, and its name comes from a spider's eight legs, referencing the eight foundation piles that must be filled to win the game. ...

in which all the building takes place on the tableau and not to separate foundations.

Computer games

Patience and solitaire games have enjoyed a renaissance as a result of being readily transferable to a software format and playable on computers or other electronic media. Perhaps the most influential initially was Microsoft's "Solitaire", actually the well known game of Klondike. Its inclusion with Microsoft Windows from 1990 onwards had an especially big impact in popularizing patience and solitaire games with the general public. A plethora of electronic versions of these games has been produced, some, like "Solitaire" under proprietary names different from the actual name.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* Arnold, Peter. ''Card Games for One.'' London: Hamlyn, 2002 () * Arnold, Peter. ''The Complete Book of Card Games.'' Hamlyn Publishing, 2010. * Bergholt, Ernest (1941). ''A New Book of Patience Games''. Routledge. * Blanccoeur, Comtesse de (1860–70). ''Le Livre Illustré des Patiences''. Brussels. *

Cadogan, Lady Adelaide Lady Adelaide Cadogan (née Paget; 1820–1890) was a British noblewoman and prodigious author, most noted for her seminal work on Play (theatre), plays and card games. She used her title in her publications and that is how she is generally style ...

(1870). ''Illustrated Games of Patience''. * ''Cavendish'' (= Henry Jones) (1890). ''Patience''. De La Rue. * Craze, Richard. ''The Playing Card Kit''. Simon & Schuster, 1995. * Crépeau, Pierre. ''The Complete Book of Solitaire'' (a translation of ''Le Grand Livre des Patiences''). Willowdale, Ontario: Firefly Books, 2001. () * Dalton, Basil (1948). ''The Complete Patience Book''. John Baker. * Harbin, Robert (1972). ''Waddington's Family Card Games''. Pan, London. * Hoffmann, Professor (= Angelo Lewis) (1920). ''Illustrated Book of Patience Games''. Routledge. English translation of Blanccoeur. * Kansil, Joli Quentin (ed). ''Bicycle Official Rules of Card Games''. 1999. * Lee, Sloane & Packard, Gabriel. ''100 Best Solitaire Games: 100 Ways to Entertain Yourself with a Deck of Cards''; New York, N. Y.: Cardoza Publishing, 2004. () * Marks, Arnold & Harrod, Jacqueline. ''Card Games Made Easy.'' Surrey, England: Clarion, 1997 () *

Morehead, Albert Albert Hodges Morehead, Jr. (August 7, 1909 – October 5, 1966) was a writer for ''The New York Times'', a bridge player, a lexicographer, and an author and editor of reference works. Early years Morehead was born in Flintstone, Taylor County, ...

and

Geoffrey Mott-Smith The Mott-Smith Trophy, named for writer and cryptographer Geoffrey Mott-Smith, is awarded to the player with the best overall individual performance in the Spring Nationals, the spring event of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North Amer ...

(1950). ''The Complete Book of Patience''. Faber & Faber. *

Morehead, Albert H. Albert Hodges Morehead, Jr. (August 7, 1909 – October 5, 1966) was a writer for ''The New York Times'', a bridge player, a lexicographer, and an author and editor of reference works. Early years Morehead was born in Flintstone, Taylor County, ...

and

. ''The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience Games.'' New York: Bantam Books, 1977 () * Morehead, Philip D. ''Hoyle's Rules of Games'' (3rd edition) 2001. * . * *

Parlett, David David Parlett (born 18 May 1939 in London) is a games scholar, historian, and translator from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. He is the president of the British Skat Association. His published works include many pop ...

(1987). ''The Penguin Book of Card Games'', Treasure Press, 1987. *

Phillips, Hubert Hubert Phillips (13 December 1891 – 9 January 1964) was a British economist, journalist, broadcaster, bridge player and organiser, composer of puzzles and quizzes, and the author of some 70 books. Life Education and early career Phil ...

(1960). ''The Pan Book of Card Games''. Pan, London. * Whitmore Jones, Mary. ''Games of Patience'', Series 1-5 (1899) – ''New Patience Games of Patience'' (1911), Upcott Gill, London. * ''The Little Book of Solitaire'', Running Press, 2002.

External links

Lady Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Solitaire or Patience
by Adelaide Cadogan, 1914, from

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...

Games of patience for one or more players, second series
by Mary Whitmore Jones, about 1898, original book-scan from

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* {{Authority control 18th-century card games Mobile games Solitaire tabletop games Double-deck patience card games