Montana (Gaps) Solitaire

Montana Solitaire is also known as Gaps or Spaces.

Object:

To order all of the cards in 4 rows of increasing order from 2 to K, one single suit per row.

Layout:

All 52 cards are dealt face up into 4 rows, 13 cards each, where the cards are not overlapped.

After the dealing the Aces are removed to create 4 blank spaces.

Play:

Any card can be moved to a blank spot, if it is one rank higher than the card to the left of the blank and it is from the same suit.\nClick a blank to fill it, or click on the card you want to move to a space (if the card can be moved).

A space in the first column can only be filled with a Two from any suit.

A King blocks any spaces to the right of the King. You can continue arranging the cards until all moves are blocked by a King.

If all spaces are blocked by a King, press Shuffle Remaining button. All cards, which are not in ascending value within the same suit (starting with a Two in the first column), will be gathered, shuffled with Aces, and redealt.

Only three shuffles of the remaining cards are allowed in Montana Relax, and only one shuffle of the remaining cards are allowed in Montana Classic.

Tips:

We have few really good tips. Just avoid leaving gaps to the right of Kings, and be careful in choosing which deuce you play to an empty space in the first column. Try to think ahead!

One reader suggested to us that’s it’s not good to finish a row too soon. If you finish a 2-through-King row by placing a King in the 12th column and then deal, you get a gap in the 13th column that is useless to you for the rest of the game.

Another reader suggests that you should not place too many cards before the final redeal. If the game is mostly finished before the final redeal, you will have few choices after the redeal and a high chance of being stuck. By leaving more cards unplayed, you will get more freedom of choice for your last moves.

When played as a puzzle game, with unlimited use of the Redo command, Montana is nearly always winnable.

Chance of Winning:

1 in 20 games.

Scoring:

∙ You get one point for each card that is in sequence. The highest possible score is 48 points.

∙ If you have any shuffle moves remaining, you get an extra 10 points for each one.

∙ If you use the undo button, you lose 2 points. So if you use it three times, you lose a total of 6 points.

∙ When you finish the game, we will calculate your score and rank your performance.

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