Play Scorpion Solitaire Online for Free

Scorpion Solitaire is a single-deck card game where almost everything happens inside the tableau. You build four complete sequences from King down to Ace, one per suit, and a finished sequence leaves the board as a single unit.

Scorpion moves cards the way Yukon Solitaire does. Any face-up card can be picked up along with every card sitting on top of it, even when those cards are out of order. Building follows the same-suit rule, and that rule is what gives the game its sting.

One large solitaire site that publishes player data reports a Scorpion win rate of 6.28%. Klondike Turn 1 sits near 33%. Computer analysis suggests roughly 80% of Scorpion deals can be won with perfect play, so the gap between those numbers comes down to how you play.

What Is Scorpion Solitaire?

Scorpion Solitaire is a single-player card game played with one 52-card deck. It borrows its goal from Spider Solitaire and its movement rule from Yukon, which makes it feel familiar and strange at the same time.

Here is the game at a glance:

Deck: one standard 52-card deck
Goal: four complete King-to-Ace sequences, one per suit
Tableau: seven columns of seven cards
Stock pile: three cards, dealt once
Face-up cards at the deal: 37 out of 49 on the tableau
Also called: the Scorpion card game

The foundation works differently here. Cards never go up one at a time. A suit leaves the tableau only when all thirteen of its cards sit in a single run from King down to Ace.

Scorpion Setup and Layout

Scorpion deals 49 cards into seven tableau columns of seven cards each.

In the first four columns, the bottom three cards are face down and the top four are face up.
In the last three columns, all seven cards are face up.
That gives you 37 face-up cards and 12 face-down cards.
The three remaining cards form the stock, face down, at the top of the play area.
The four foundation piles start empty and stay empty until a full sequence is done.

Here is why those numbers matter. Klondike shows you 7 cards at the deal. Scorpion shows you 37, and every hidden card sits on the left side of the board. You know exactly where to dig.

Scorpion Rules: Same Suit, Whole Stacks

The full rules are short:

Build down by suit. Place the 9♠ on the 10♠. The 9♥ cannot go there.
Move a card with its whole stack. Only the card you pick up has to fit the card it lands on, and everything above it travels along, in order or out of order.
Face-down cards flip on their own. Move the cards above one and it turns over.
Only a King fills an empty column. A group of cards starting with a King also works.
Nothing can be placed on an Ace. Ace is the low card, and no card ranks below it.
Complete a King-to-Ace run in one suit and it flies off to the foundation.

Then there is the stock. When you run out of useful moves, deal it. The three cards land face up, one on each of the first three columns. You get this deal once per game, so hold it until you truly need it.

Scorpion vs Yukon and Spider

Scorpion sits between two better-known games.

From Yukon it takes group movement. Any face-up stack can travel as a unit. Yukon builds in alternating colors, while Scorpion demands the same suit.
From Spider it takes the goal. Full King-to-Ace sequences are removed as a unit. Spider is usually played with two decks and repeated stock deals, while Scorpion uses one deck and a single three-card deal.

The same player data puts Yukon at 13.69% and Scorpion at 6.28%. The same-suit rule roughly halves your building options on every card, and the win rate follows.

Scorpion Strategy: How to Win More Games

Scorpion rewards patience with the stock and respect for the Aces. These five habits are ranked from most to least important.

Free the face-down cards first. Twelve cards start hidden, all in the first four columns. Work the left side of the board before anything else.
Watch the Aces. Since nothing plays onto an Ace, an Ace at the top of a pile shuts that pile down for building. Move Ace stacks onto their own suit runs early, before they trap cards you need.
Check what a move buries. Every card riding along on a group move lands somewhere. A move that frees one hidden card while burying three useful ones is a bad trade.
Hold the stock deal. Those three cards land on top of your first three columns and can cover work you have already done. Deal only when you are truly out of moves.
Empty a column only when a King is ready. A freed column with no King to take it is dead space.

Scorpion takes practice, and even strong players lose most deals. Use the undo button to test a move and back out of it, and when nothing looks legal, the hint button will point one out.

Play Scorpion Solitaire at Solitaire.com

Solitaire.com runs in your browser. Here is what you get:

No downloads and no signup required
Unlimited undos in every game
A hint button for when you are stuck
Score bonuses for every card you reveal and every suit you complete

Play Scorpion Solitaire for free at Solitaire.com, and start a new deal whenever you like.