Scorpion Solitaire

A winning game, move by move

In brief

The deals below are actual deals from the app: paste their codes into the New Game window to play the exact same layout. Deal SC1-C-AAAAAAB is won in 52 moves for 695 points; before the site is published, a program that applies the app’s rules replays the game move by move, including the score.

A game won in 52 moves

Deal SC1-C-AAAAAAB, Classic rules. The game takes 52 moves, including 1 stock deal. No moves are undone. The tallest column reaches 20 cards.

stock: 3 face-down cards; no sequences removed. column 1: 3 face down, then 3 of diamonds, jack of hearts, 10 of hearts, 3 of spades; column 2: 3 face down, then queen of hearts, 3 of clubs, 4 of hearts, 7 of spades; column 3: 3 face down, then ace of spades, 7 of diamonds, 7 of hearts, 3 of hearts; column 4: 3 face down, then king of diamonds, 8 of hearts, 7 of clubs, 9 of spades; column 5: 6 of hearts, 8 of clubs, jack of spades, 4 of clubs, 9 of clubs, 8 of diamonds, 5 of clubs; column 6: 6 of diamonds, queen of clubs, king of hearts, 4 of diamonds, king of spades, 9 of hearts, jack of clubs; column 7: ace of diamonds, queen of diamonds, 9 of diamonds, 6 of spades, 2 of hearts, 10 of diamonds, 5 of hearts.

At the start: 12 face-down cards, 3 cards in the stock, score 0.

stock dealt; no sequences removed. column 1: 3 face down, then 3 of diamonds, jack of hearts, 10 of hearts, 3 of spades, ace of clubs; column 2: 3 face down, then queen of hearts, 3 of clubs, 8 of spades; column 3: 3 face down, then ace of spades, 7 of diamonds, 7 of hearts, 3 of hearts, 2 of hearts, 10 of diamonds, 9 of diamonds, 8 of diamonds, 5 of clubs, 4 of clubs, 9 of clubs, 8 of clubs, jack of spades, jack of diamonds; column 4: 3 face down, then king of diamonds, 8 of hearts, 7 of clubs, 9 of spades; column 5: 6 of hearts, 5 of hearts, 4 of hearts, 7 of spades, 6 of spades; column 6: 6 of diamonds, queen of clubs, king of hearts, 4 of diamonds, king of spades, 9 of hearts, jack of clubs; column 7: ace of diamonds, queen of diamonds.

Stock dealt, after 9 moves: 12 face-down cards, sequences removed: 0, score 40.

stock dealt; no sequences removed. column 1: empty; column 2: king of spades, 9 of hearts, jack of clubs, 10 of clubs, 9 of clubs, 8 of clubs, jack of spades, 10 of spades, 9 of spades, 8 of spades, 7 of spades, 6 of spades, 5 of spades, 4 of spades; column 3: queen of spades; column 4: king of clubs, queen of clubs, king of hearts, queen of hearts, jack of hearts, 10 of hearts, 3 of spades, 2 of spades, ace of spades, 7 of diamonds, 7 of hearts, 6 of hearts, 5 of hearts, 4 of hearts, 3 of hearts, 2 of hearts, ace of hearts; column 5: king of diamonds, 8 of hearts, 7 of clubs, 6 of clubs; column 6: 6 of diamonds, 5 of diamonds, 4 of diamonds, 3 of diamonds, 2 of diamonds; column 7: ace of diamonds, queen of diamonds, jack of diamonds, 10 of diamonds, 9 of diamonds, 8 of diamonds, 5 of clubs, 4 of clubs, 3 of clubs, 2 of clubs, ace of clubs.

Last face-down card turned over, after 38 moves: no face-down cards remain, sequences removed: 0, score 230.

stock dealt; sequences removed: spades. column 1: empty; column 2: empty; column 3: empty; column 4: king of clubs, queen of clubs, king of hearts, queen of hearts, jack of hearts, 10 of hearts, 9 of hearts, jack of clubs, 10 of clubs, 9 of clubs, 8 of clubs, 7 of clubs, 6 of clubs, 5 of clubs, 4 of clubs, 3 of clubs, 2 of clubs, ace of clubs; column 5: king of diamonds, 8 of hearts, 7 of hearts, 6 of hearts, 5 of hearts, 4 of hearts, 3 of hearts, 2 of hearts, ace of hearts; column 6: empty; column 7: ace of diamonds, queen of diamonds, jack of diamonds, 10 of diamonds, 9 of diamonds, 8 of diamonds, 7 of diamonds, 6 of diamonds, 5 of diamonds, 4 of diamonds, 3 of diamonds, 2 of diamonds.

First sequence removed, after 47 moves: no face-down cards remain, sequences removed: 1, score 375.

The 4 sequences are removed in this order: spades (♠) on move 47, clubs (♣) on move 49, hearts (♥) on move 50, diamonds (♦) on move 52. The final move removes the last sequence and wins the game.

Where the 695 points come from

  • 47 placements on a card of the same suit × 5 = 235;
  • 12 cards turned over × 5 = 60;
  • 4 sequences × 100 = 400.
The game’s 52 moves
  1. 4♥ and 1 card on top of it: from column 2 to column 7, onto 5♥ (score 5)
  2. 2♥ and 4 cards on top of it: from column 7 to column 3, onto 3♥ (score 10)
  3. 6♠: from column 7 to column 3, onto 7♠ (score 15)
  4. 8♦ and 1 card on top of it: from column 5 to column 7, onto 9♦ (score 20)
  5. 4♣ and 1 card on top of it: from column 5 to column 7, onto 5♣ (score 25)
  6. 8♣ and 1 card on top of it: from column 5 to column 7, onto 9♣ (score 30)
  7. 5♥ and 3 cards on top of it: from column 3 to column 5, onto 6♥ (score 35)
  8. 9♦ and 6 cards on top of it: from column 7 to column 3, onto 10♦ (score 40)
  9. stock dealt: A♣ onto column 1, 8♠ onto column 2, V♦ onto column 3 (score 40)
  10. 8♠: from column 2 to column 4, onto 9♠ (score 45)
  11. V♦: from column 3 to column 7, onto D♦ (score 50)
  12. 10♦ and 7 cards on top of it: from column 3 to column 7, onto V♦ (score 55)
  13. 7♠ and 1 card on top of it: from column 5 to column 4, onto 8♠ (score 60)
  14. 3♥ and 1 card on top of it: from column 3 to column 5, onto 4♥ (score 65)
  15. 6♥ and 4 cards on top of it: from column 5 to column 3, onto 7♥ (score 70)
  16. R♦ and 6 cards on top of it: from column 4 to empty column 5 (score 75)
  17. 4♦ and 3 cards on top of it: from column 6 to column 4, onto 5♦ (score 80)
  18. D♥ and 1 card on top of it: from column 2 to column 6, onto R♥ (score 90)
  19. A♥: from column 2 to column 3, onto 2♥ (score 100)
  20. D♣ and 3 cards on top of it: from column 6 to column 2, onto R♣ (score 105)
  21. 5♦ and 4 cards on top of it: from column 4 to column 6, onto 6♦ (score 115)
  22. 2♣: from column 4 to column 2, onto 3♣ (score 125)
  23. A♣: from column 1 to column 2, onto 2♣ (score 130)
  24. 10♠: from column 4 to column 7, onto V♠ (score 135)
  25. R♣ and 6 cards on top of it: from column 2 to empty column 4 (score 140)
  26. 5♠: from column 2 to column 5, onto 6♠ (score 145)
  27. 9♠ and 4 cards on top of it: from column 5 to column 7, onto 10♠ (score 150)
  28. R♠ and 2 cards on top of it: from column 6 to empty column 2 (score 150)
  29. 3♦ and 3 cards on top of it: from column 1 to column 6, onto 4♦ (score 160)
  30. 10♣: from column 1 to column 2, onto V♣ (score 170)
  31. 2♠: from column 1 to column 6, onto 3♠ (score 180)
  32. A♠ and 8 cards on top of it: from column 3 to column 6, onto 2♠ (score 190)
  33. 6♣: from column 1 to column 5, onto 7♣ (score 195)
  34. 9♣ and 8 cards on top of it: from column 7 to column 2, onto 10♣ (score 200)
  35. 3♣ and 2 cards on top of it: from column 4 to column 7, onto 4♣ (score 205)
  36. V♥ and 12 cards on top of it: from column 6 to column 4, onto D♥ (score 210)
  37. 2♦: from column 3 to column 6, onto 3♦ (score 220)
  38. 4♠: from column 3 to column 2, onto 5♠ (score 230)
  39. V♠ and 7 cards on top of it: from column 2 to column 3, onto D♠ (score 235)
  40. 3♠ and 10 cards on top of it: from column 4 to column 3, onto 4♠ (score 240)
  41. 9♥ and 4 cards on top of it: from column 2 to column 4, onto 10♥ (score 245)
  42. 7♣ and 1 card on top of it: from column 5 to column 4, onto 8♣ (score 250)
  43. 7♥ and 6 cards on top of it: from column 3 to column 5, onto 8♥ (score 255)
  44. 6♦ and 4 cards on top of it: from column 6 to column 3, onto 7♦ (score 260)
  45. 5♣ and 4 cards on top of it: from column 7 to column 4, onto 6♣ (score 265)
  46. 7♦ and 5 cards on top of it: from column 3 to column 7, onto 8♦ (score 270)
  47. D♠ and 11 cards on top of it: from column 3 to column 2, onto R♠; spade sequence removed (score 375)
  48. R♥ and 15 cards on top of it: from column 4 to empty column 1 (score 375)
  49. V♣ and 10 cards on top of it: from column 1 to column 4, onto D♣; club sequence removed (score 480)
  50. 8♥ and 7 cards on top of it: from column 5 to column 1, onto 9♥; heart sequence removed (score 585)
  51. D♦ and 10 cards on top of it: from column 7 to column 5, onto R♦ (score 590)
  52. A♦: from column 7 to column 5, onto 2♦; diamond sequence removed (score 695)

A move rejected in Classic, allowed in Relaxed

From the initial deal, the 2♥ in column 7 (with the 2 cards on top of it) cannot move onto the 3♠ in column 1: the rank is right, but the suit is not. The app rejects it in Classic (“Rule: cards must be of the same suit”). The same deal played in Relaxed allows this move.

stock: 3 face-down cards; no sequences removed. column 1: 3 face down, then 3 of diamonds, jack of hearts, 10 of hearts, 3 of spades; column 2: 3 face down, then queen of hearts, 3 of clubs, 4 of hearts, 7 of spades; column 3: 3 face down, then ace of spades, 7 of diamonds, 7 of hearts, 3 of hearts; column 4: 3 face down, then king of diamonds, 8 of hearts, 7 of clubs, 9 of spades; column 5: 6 of hearts, 8 of clubs, jack of spades, 4 of clubs, 9 of clubs, 8 of diamonds, 5 of clubs; column 6: 6 of diamonds, queen of clubs, king of hearts, 4 of diamonds, king of spades, 9 of hearts, jack of clubs; column 7: ace of diamonds, queen of diamonds, 9 of diamonds, 6 of spades, 2 of hearts, 10 of diamonds, 5 of hearts.

The 2♥ and the cards on top of it (highlighted) cannot move onto the 3♠ in column 1 (circled) in Classic.

More deals to try

These are the deals shown in the app’s screenshots. The verification program did not win them within its limit (500 000 positions examined per deal): this does not tell us whether they are winnable.

CodeTop cards, columns 1 to 7
SC1-C-AAAAANH4♠ 3♠ 9♠ 9♦ 5♠ R♦ 7♥
SC1-C-AAAAAJSA♦ D♣ 6♠ R♣ 9♣ 5♠ 8♠
SC1-C-AAAAAFH2♣ 9♣ 4♥ 3♣ D♦ 10♣ 8♣