Recently, I’ve been thinking that Canfield just isn’t a complex enough solitaire game. I’ve designed patient devil to provide you with more options that you’ll feel that you just don’t want to take.

The aim of the game is to get all of the cards from the pack to the four foundations. They will vary between (& within) games. Continuous ranking is allowed. Take a shuffled pack without jokers and deal seven cards face down into the reserve. Beside this, deal one card face up to form the first foundation, then four cards face up in separate piles beneath to form the tableau. Keep the remaining cards aside as your stock. The foundations are built up by suit in ascending order (A, 2, 3, &c.) As long as its suit is not yet represented in the foundations, at any point you may move a card to the foundation; from there, the suit is built up as usual. There is no requirement that the value of any of the new foundations match those already present. Be careful not to do this too soon — you don’t want to find yourself trapped later on. The cards from the reserve can be played directly to the foundation or can build down on the tableau. One of your first goals should be to clear the cards from the reserve. The tableau is built down in descending order, regardless suit or colour (i.e. you may build any Q on any K, &c.). Cards may be moved individually or in blocks between the four piles of the tableau. If you have an empty space, it may be filled with any card. If you’re otherwise unable to make a move, deal the top three cards of the stock into a single waste pile. You can play the top card of the waste pile to either the foundations or the tableau. Once the stock is exhausted, you may turn over the waste pile to produce a new stock. Do not shuffle the cards. You may do this as often as you please, though you may find yourself at a dead end regardless!

You’ll find the game slightly easier to win than Canfield (though I’ve yet to calculate the likelihood of winning), though it will regularly feel like you’ve made a choice that’ll upset the game later. Either way, keep going until you fill the foundations or find that you’re unable to progress!

Let me know in the comments how you find the game — or otherwise what your favourite patience games are!