How to Play

A one-deck patience with a 4-by-5 carpet of face-up cards, four Aces promoted as foundations, and a talon that fills gaps one card at a time as you build each suit up to King.

Carpet (also called Le Tapis) is a relaxing single-pack patience in which twenty face-up cards form a 4-by-5 'carpet' in front of you. The four Aces are lifted out at the start as foundations. Your job is to feed the foundations up in suit, pulling cards straight from the carpet and filling the gaps from a waste pile or the remaining talon. There is no tableau building; every decision is about which exposed card to move next and how to sequence moves so the refills give you what you need.

Players

Single-player patience. For a race, two players can each deal identical shuffles and play against the clock, or swap shuffles after one attempt.

Card Deck

• One standard 52-card deck, no jokers.
• Suit and rank both matter. Cards are built up on foundations in order Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King.A♠K♠Q♠J♠
• The four Aces are treated as pre-seeded foundation bases: .A♠A♥A♦A♣

Objective

Move every card of the deck onto the four suit-sorted foundations so each ends with its King. The game is won when all 52 cards are on the foundations; it is lost when no legal move remains and the stock and waste are empty.

Setup and Deal

1. Shuffle a standard 52-card deck and deal it face down.
2. Remove the four Aces (you can either search for them now, or let them appear and promote them as they do) and place them in a row above the playing area as the four foundation bases.
3. Deal 20 cards face up in a 4-row by 5-column grid (the carpet).
4. Place the remaining 28 cards face down as the stock (talon).
5. Leave space for a single waste pile to the right of the stock (starts empty).

Gameplay

1. Step 1 (foundation moves): Any card in the carpet that is the next-rank, same-suit card for a foundation may be moved there (for example, the 2 of clubs can go on top of the Ace of clubs). The top card of the waste pile is also always available for play to a foundation.2♣A♣
2. Step 2 (refill gaps): Whenever a carpet position becomes empty, immediately fill it. If the waste pile has a top card, you may fill the gap from the waste pile; otherwise turn the top card of the stock face up and place it into the gap. Once the gap is filled the new card becomes available for play to a foundation on a later move.
3. Step 3 (turn the stock): When no carpet card can be played (and the waste top cannot help), turn the next stock card face up onto the waste pile. Only the top card of the waste is ever accessible.
4. Step 4 (no tableau building): Carpet cards cannot be built on each other; the only destinations are the four foundations. Once on the foundation, cards cannot be taken back.
5. Step 5 (end condition): Play continues until the stock is exhausted, no waste card is playable, and no carpet card can reach a foundation. At that point, either all 52 cards are home (win) or some remain on the table (loss). No redeal is allowed in the base game.

Scoring

• Win or loss is binary: all 52 cards on foundations is a win.
• Partial score (for session play): the total number of cards placed on foundations when the game stalls.
• Win rate under optimal play is roughly 1 in 4; the deal determines most outcomes.

Winning

You win by moving the King of each suit onto its foundation after building it from the Ace. You lose when the talon is empty, the waste top is unplayable, and no carpet card can reach a foundation. In session play, count each win as 1 point; play a fixed number of attempts and sum wins for a session score.

Common Variations

• Aces-in-deck: Do not lift Aces at setup; play all 52 cards in the deck and let Aces be promoted to the foundation row as they appear.
• Colorado (two decks): A two-deck cousin with a larger carpet and two foundations per suit; slightly higher win rate.
• Twenty: A solitaire with the same shape but building both up from Aces and down from Kings on twin foundation sets.
• Carpet with redeal: House rule allowing one redeal of the waste pile back into the stock; markedly increases winability.
• Strategy stock: House rule letting you see the top three cards of the stock before deciding to turn them; skill-friendly version.

Tips and Strategy

• When multiple carpet cards can move to a foundation, prefer the one whose position is adjacent to a card likely to follow from the stock; refills reshape future options.
• Hold back a playable carpet card briefly if the waste top is about to become playable (for example, a Queen on the waste with the King safely tucked in the carpet). Moving a card off the carpet first can keep a critical gap open.
• Count foundations, not carpet cards. Knowing which suit is farthest behind tells you which gaps are most valuable to open.
• Do not waste the single refill from the waste pile on a neutral card. When a gap opens, choose the waste-top refill only if that card is close to being playable next.

Glossary

• Carpet: The 4-by-5 layout of twenty face-up cards.
• Foundation: One of the four suit piles built from Ace to King.A♠K♠
• Talon / Stock: The 28 face-down cards dealt into the waste pile one at a time.
• Waste: The face-up pile of turned stock cards; only the top card is ever available.
• Redeal: The rare optional reshuffle of the waste back into the stock.