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Download on Google Play- 1 player with a standard 52-card deck.
- Place 4 Aces as foundations.
- Deal 20 cards face-up in a 4x5 carpet. Rest is the stock.
- Play any carpet card to its matching foundation (next rank, same suit).
- Fill empty carpet spaces from the stock immediately.
- Win by completing all four foundations to King.
- Approximately 1 in 4 deals are winnable.
Rules
Carpet is a simple and relaxing solitaire card game where 20 cards are laid out face-up in a 4-by-5 grid (the carpet). Aces are placed as foundations, and the player builds up on them by suit to Kings. Cards from the carpet are played to foundations, and empty carpet spaces are filled from the stock. Despite its simplicity, the game has a satisfying rhythm and a reasonable win rate.
Objective
Build all four foundation piles up by suit from Ace to King using cards from the carpet and the stock.
Setup
- Players: 1 player (solitaire).
- Deck: Standard 52-card deck.
- Foundations: Remove the 4 Aces and place them in a row as foundation bases.
- Carpet: Deal 20 cards face-up in a 4-row by 5-column grid (the carpet).
- Stock: The remaining 28 cards form the stock pile.
Gameplay
- Playing to foundations: Any card on the carpet that is the next card needed on a foundation (same suit, one rank higher) may be moved there.
- Filling gaps: When a card is removed from the carpet, the space is immediately filled with the top card of the stock.
- Stock exhaustion: When the stock is empty, gaps in the carpet remain open.
- No tableau building: Cards on the carpet cannot be built on each other. Each card is independent and can only go to foundations.
Scoring
- Win condition: All four foundations are built from Ace to King (52 cards total).
- Partial scoring: Count the number of cards placed on foundations.
- Win rate: Carpet has a moderate win rate, estimated around 1 in 4 games.
Variations
- Carpet with waste: Instead of removing Aces at the start, deal all 52 cards and let Aces go to foundations when they appear.
- Larger carpet: Use a 5x6 grid for a 30-card carpet, leaving only 18 stock cards for a higher win rate.
Tips and Strategies
- Scan the entire carpet before making moves; sometimes the order in which you play cards to foundations matters because of what the stock will deal into empty spaces.
- There is limited strategy since you cannot rearrange carpet cards, but prioritise playing cards that open spaces for fresh stock cards.
- Track which cards remain in the stock mentally to anticipate what will fill gaps.
Tips & Strategy
Since you cannot build on the carpet, your only decision is which card to play first when multiple options exist. Choose the one most likely to create a useful chain of stock fills. The game is largely luck-driven but pleasant.
Carpet is almost entirely luck-based. The only marginal strategic choice is the order in which you move available cards to foundations when multiple moves are possible.
Trivia & Fun Facts
The game is sometimes called the 20-card solitaire because of its distinctive carpet of 20 face-up cards. It is one of the few solitaire games with almost no decision-making, making outcomes largely dependent on the deal.
How many cards make up the carpet in the standard version of the Carpet solitaire game?
History & Culture
Carpet is a traditional solitaire game that appeared in 19th-century patience game collections. Its simplicity made it a popular choice for beginning solitaire players and a relaxing diversion for experienced ones.
Carpet holds a place in the solitaire tradition as an accessible, no-stress game. It is often the first solitaire game taught to children because of its simple rules.
Variations & House Rules
A larger carpet (5x6) increases the win rate significantly. Some versions do not pre-place the Aces, requiring them to appear naturally during play.
Increase the carpet size to 5x5 or 5x6 for easier games. Allow one redeal of the stock through a waste pile. Deal the carpet face-down and flip cards one at a time for a memory challenge.
