Scorpion Solitaire sits at a fascinating intersection of Yukon and Spider. Like Yukon, it allows you to move any face-up card along with all the cards on top of it, regardless of whether those cards form a valid sequence. Like Spider, the goal is to build complete same-suit sequences from King to Ace within the tableau rather than building outward to separate foundation piles. The combination produces a game that is simultaneously more flexible than Spider and more demanding than Klondike.
The game uses a single standard 52-card deck. Seven columns are dealt across the tableau: the first four columns receive seven cards each, with the bottom three cards in each of those columns dealt face-down and the top four face-up. The last three columns receive seven face-up cards each — no face-down cards. The remaining three cards are held in reserve as a small stock, set aside until they are needed.
The goal is to build four complete King-to-Ace sequences within the tableau, each sequence containing thirteen cards of the same suit. When a complete same-suit sequence is assembled in a single column — King at the bottom through Ace at the top — it is automatically removed from the board. Build all four complete sequences and you win.
The three reserve cards can be dealt onto the tableau at any point — one to each of the first three columns — but most experienced players delay this deal until the tableau is as organised as possible, using the three new cards as a calculated intervention rather than an early escape.
The Tableau: Seven columns. Columns one through four have seven cards each — three face-down at the base, four face-up on top. Columns five, six, and seven have seven face-up cards each with no face-down cards. All face-up cards are available to interact with; face-down cards are revealed when all face-up cards above them have been moved away.
The Movement Rule: Any face-up card in the tableau, along with every face-up card physically stacked above it in the same column, can be moved as a group to another column. The bottom card of the moving group must be placed on a tableau card that is the next rank up in the same suit — a 7 of hearts goes on an 8 of hearts, a Jack of spades goes on a Queen of spades. The cards above the bottom card travel as passengers and can be in any order or suit.
Empty Columns: When an entire column is cleared, any card or any valid moveable group can be placed there. Unlike Klondike and Spider, empty columns in Scorpion are not restricted to Kings — any card can occupy an empty column.
Completing Sequences: When a complete King-to-Ace sequence in a single suit is assembled in one column — King at the base, Ace at the top, all thirteen cards of the same suit in descending order — it is automatically removed from the board. Four such completions win the game.
The Reserve: Three cards held separately from the tableau. They can be dealt at any time — one face-up card dealt onto each of the first three columns simultaneously. The reserve can only be used once. After it is dealt, no further cards enter the game.
Winning and Losing: The game is won when all four complete same-suit sequences have been removed from the board. The game is lost when no valid moves remain and the reserve has already been used.
Maintain same-suit column discipline from the first move. Scorpion's free movement rule creates a constant temptation to make convenient mixed-suit placements. Resist this where possible. Every mixed-suit card placed on top of a same-suit run breaks the continuity of that run and requires future work to reassemble. Before any placement, ask whether a same-suit destination exists anywhere in the seven columns.
Uncover face-down cards as a primary objective. The twelve face-down cards in columns one through four are the primary constraint on early planning. Each one hides a card that might be the suit connector or low-rank card the board is waiting for. The free movement rule means uncovering face-down cards is often easier than it appears.
Prioritise Kings as foundation anchors for empty columns. Unlike most solitaire variants, Scorpion allows any card in an empty column — but Kings are special because they are the only card that can start a complete sequence. A King placed in an empty column is the beginning of a thirteen-card same-suit run that, if completed, wins one quarter of the game.
Think in terms of suit completion paths. Before the mid-game, identify which column is most likely to become the completion column for each suit, and direct placement decisions toward consolidating each suit's cards into its designated column.
Delay the reserve deal until it delivers maximum value. The three reserve cards are a one-time intervention. Used strategically — when three specific columns need a specific card to unblock a face-down card or continue a same-suit run — the reserve deal can unlock several moves simultaneously.
Wasp is the most widely played Scorpion variant. The layout differs from Scorpion in one key way: instead of the last three columns being dealt entirely face-up, Wasp deals all seven columns with the same structure — three face-down cards at the base and four face-up on top. This means all seven columns have face-down cards, which significantly increases the uncovering work and makes Wasp harder than standard Scorpion.
Three Blind Mice modifies the Scorpion structure by reducing the reserve from three cards to none — the entire 52-card deck is dealt onto the seven columns at the start with no cards held back. Without a reserve, there is no intervention mechanism for a stuck position. This makes Three Blind Mice the most demanding variant in the Scorpion family.
Scorpion Spider is a hybrid variant that combines Scorpion's movement rule — any face-up card and all cards above it move as a unit — with Spider's larger board of ten columns and 104-card double deck. The free movement rule makes Scorpion Spider meaningfully more approachable than standard Spider, while the larger board creates a different strategic challenge.
Scan for same-suit destinations before every move. The most common error in Scorpion is making a convenient mixed-suit placement without first checking whether a same-suit destination exists anywhere in the tableau. Before every placement, take two seconds to scan all seven column tops for a card that is the next rank up in the same suit as the card you're about to move.
Use the free movement rule to unblock columns, not just to sequence. Players new to Scorpion tend to use the free movement rule primarily for building sequences. The more powerful use is for uncovering: moving any face-up card with its pile to any valid same-suit destination to expose the face-down card beneath it.
Keep track of where each suit's key cards are. Scorpion's completion requirement means that the location of each suit's low-rank cards — the Ace, 2, and 3 of each suit — is critical information. If the Ace of diamonds is buried under four face-down cards in column two, the diamonds completion cannot happen until that column is substantially cleared.
Avoid using empty columns for temporary single-card parking. An empty column in Scorpion accepts any card — which makes it tempting to use as a parking space for a single inconvenient card. This is usually a waste of the column's value. Reserve empty columns for staged uncovering moves that enable multi-step reorganisation.
Deal the reserve to the columns most likely to benefit, not the most obstructed ones. Before triggering the reserve deal, ensure the first three columns are in the best possible state to receive unknown cards productively — ideally with exposed same-suit runs whose next needed card might be in the reserve.
Prioritise completing the first sequence before the mid-game. Each completed sequence removes thirteen cards from the board and frees a column — a significant structural relief that opens up moves that weren't previously possible. Deliberately funnelling effort toward one suit in the early game, rather than distributing effort evenly, produces better outcomes.
Scorpion Solitaire is harder than Klondike and comparable in difficulty to Spider 2-Suit — a meaningful challenge for experienced solitaire players but not as demanding as Spider 4-Suit or Russian Solitaire.
With casual play — moving cards opportunistically without systematic suit discipline or face-down uncovering priority — typical Scorpion win rates fall in the 25–35% range. With consistent application of the strategic habits above — same-suit placement priority, face-down uncovering focus, deliberate reserve timing, suit completion path planning — win rates rise to 45–55%.
The reserve's three cards have a measurable impact on win rate. Games where the reserve is used strategically — held until the first three columns are in a position to benefit from three additional face-up cards — win at a higher rate than games where the reserve is used early as an escape from a difficult position.
Unwinnable deals exist in Scorpion, as in all solitaire variants. Estimates suggest approximately 10–20% of deals are unwinnable from the initial arrangement regardless of strategy. Using undo to trace back to a critical decision point before concluding the deal is unwinnable is worthwhile — many apparent stuck positions are recoverable with one or two different earlier decisions.
Both games aim to build complete same-suit King-to-Ace sequences within the tableau, but the movement rules are fundamentally different. Spider allows only properly ordered same-suit sequences to be moved as a unit — a mixed-suit group is frozen in place. Scorpion allows any face-up card and all face-up cards above it to move together as a group, regardless of the order or suits of the passenger cards. Scorpion also uses a single 52-card deck rather than Spider's two decks and seven columns rather than Spider's ten.
Yes, with one condition: the bottom card of the moving group must be placed on a tableau card that is the next rank up in the same suit. A group headed by the 6 of clubs can be moved to any column whose top card is the 7 of clubs. The cards above the 6 of clubs in the moving group travel as passengers and do not affect the validity of the move.
When a complete King-to-Ace sequence of a single suit is assembled in one column — all thirteen cards of the same suit in descending order from King at the base to Ace at the top — it is automatically removed from the board. This frees the column, which may become empty if no cards remain below where the sequence was.
In standard Scorpion, only the first four columns have face-down cards at the base — the last three columns are dealt entirely face-up. In Wasp, all seven columns have face-down cards at the base. This means Wasp has more total face-down cards and requires more uncovering work throughout the game, making it harder than standard Scorpion.
As late as productively possible. Before dealing the reserve, try to have the first three columns in as clean a state as possible: face-down cards uncovered, same-suit runs consolidated, and column tops showing a variety of ranks so the reserve cards are more likely to find productive same-suit destinations.
Yes, generally. Klondike Turn 1 win rates reach 40–45% with careful strategic play. Scorpion win rates reach 45–55% with careful play — comparable to Klondike but requiring a different strategic emphasis. The suit discipline required in Scorpion is a more active strategic demand than Klondike's alternating-colour sequences.
Stuck positions in Scorpion are usually caused by suit fragmentation, premature reserve use, or empty column waste. Maintain same-suit placement discipline from move one; delay the reserve until the first three columns are organised; and treat empty columns as multi-step staging areas rather than individual card storage. When stuck, systematically check every face-up card in every column for a valid same-suit destination.
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