Addiction

How to play Addiction

The whole deck is dealt into four rows of thirteen, then the Aces are removed, leaving four gaps. A gap accepts exactly one card: the same suit, one rank above the card on its left. Gaps in the leftmost column accept any 2, and that's how rows begin — the goal is four rows each running 2 to King in a single suit. A gap sitting behind a King (or behind another gap) is dead until something changes to its left.

Tap any card to send it to its gap — each card has at most one legal destination — or tap a gap to pull its card in. When the board locks up, the Shuffle button gathers everything not yet locked in sequence and redeals it, twice per game. Undo is unlimited.

Strategy tips

• Watch where the gap lands after your move. Every move opens a gap where the card came from — the real decision is whether that new gap is behind something useful or behind a King.
• Don't rush the 2s into the first column. Once a 2 is placed, that row is committed to its suit; placing a 2 whose 3 and 4 are buried behind Kings locks you into a slow row. It's often worth seeing a few moves first.
• Prefer moves that free cards just above a locked run. The card that extends a locked sequence is the most valuable card on the board — moves that dig toward it compound.
• Count your dead gaps. One dead gap is normal, two is a warning, three means you're playing a two-gap game and should be planning the shuffle already.
• Shuffle early rather than never — but lock in what you can first. A shuffle only protects cards in sequence from column 1 outward, so squeezing one more card onto a locked run before shuffling is pure profit.

A different kind of solitaire

Addiction has no foundations, no stock, and nothing to build — just 52 fixed positions and four moving holes, closer to a sliding-tile puzzle than to Klondike. Because every card's destination is forced, the skill is entirely in move order and shuffle timing, which makes it one of the most replayable quick games in the family. If you like this shape of puzzle, FreeCell scratches the same full-information itch with deeper planning.

Frequently asked questions

How do you win Addiction Solitaire?

Arrange each of the four rows into a single suit running 2 through King, left to right, with the gap parked at the far right. The Aces are removed at the start — their four empty spaces are the only places a card can ever move to.

Which card can I move into a gap?

Exactly one: the card of the same suit one rank higher than the card to the gap's left. If a 7 of hearts sits left of a gap, only the 8 of hearts can fill it. A gap in the leftmost column is the exception — any 2 can go there, which is how rows get started.

What happens when a gap ends up behind a King?

It dies. No card ranks above a King, so nothing can ever fill that space. Gaps directly behind other gaps are dead too, until the left gap gets filled. When all four gaps are dead the board is locked — that's what the shuffles are for.

How do the shuffles work?

Twice per game you can sweep up every card that isn't yet part of a row's locked 2-3-4… sequence and redeal them. Cards already in sequence stay put, and each row's gap reappears just to the right of its locked run. Use them when the board locks, not merely when it looks messy.

Why is it called Addiction?

Because the losses feel so close. Almost every game gets three-quarters of the way there, and the difference between a lock-up and a win is usually two or three early decisions about which 2s to commit and when to shuffle — so you immediately deal again. The same layout is also known as Gaps or Spaces.

Do I need an account to save my stats?

No. Games played, win rate, streaks and best times are stored in your browser on this device. Nothing is uploaded and there is nothing to sign up for.