Rules for Chameleon

Family: Klondike
Categories: Rewarding
Variants: Canfield,Rainbow,Storehouse
Also Known As:

This variant of the popular Canfield gives you just one trip through the deck, one card at a time. It has easier rules for building in the tableau, but fewer tableaus. It is similar in difficulty to Canfield, so you shouldn’t expect to win very often.

Layout

There are four foundations in a row; below them are the stock and three tableau piles. To the right of the tableaus is a wastepile. Count eleven cards into the stock, face down and squared, then add a twelfth card face up. (Solitaire Till Dawn X fans the stock down a little bit to distinguish it from the tableaus.) Deal one card face up onto each tableau pile. Deal one card face up onto the first foundation. Keep the rest of the deck in your hand.

Play

The foundations build up, following suit. The rank of the first card played onto any empty foundation pile must match the rank of the card placed on the first foundation in the initial layout. (For example, if the first card placed on a foundation pile is an eight, then eights must also be played onto the other empty foundations.) Building is circular, with Ace following King.

The tableaus build down, without regard for suit or color. Again building is circular, with King following Ace.

Top cards of stock and wastepile are available for building on either the tableaus or the foundations. Top cards of the tableaus are available for building on the foundations. Full or partial builds in the tableaus are available for building on other tableau piles.

Empty piles in the tableau must be filled immediately with the top card of the stock. If the stock is empty, you may use the top card of the wastepile, but in this case, you need not fill empty piles until you are ready.

Dealing

Deal one card at a time onto the discard pile by clicking the deck. You may not redeal; when the deck is empty, no more dealing is permitted.

Goal

The goal is to move all the cards onto the foundations.

Tips

Emptying the stock and discard piles is of paramount importance. Make plays from both of these piles whenever possible. (If you have a choice, it’s probably better to play from the discard pile unless it is much smaller than the stock.) Whenever you can, make an empty tableau pile that will be automatically filled from the stock.

It is less important than usual to build foundations evenly. You should make any move to the foundations that will help you to empty the stock or discard, but otherwise hold off in case it is useful later to have the cards in the tableau.