Rules for Spaces

Spaces (also known as Montana) is a challenging solitaire game that requires strategy and planning. All cards are laid out face-up on the table, and the goal is to arrange them in ascending order by suit. The game truly gives you a feeling of navigating through gaps as you search for the right path!

The game is for 1 player and typically takes 10-20 minutes. You need a standard 52-card deck.

Start by removing the four Aces from the deck and discarding them - they won't be used in this game.

Shuffle the remaining cards (48 cards) and deal them face-up in four rows of 13 cards each. This creates a 4x13 grid.

The spaces where the Aces were removed create four empty spaces called 'gaps' - one in each row. These gaps will be in random positions based on where the Aces were dealt.

The goal is to arrange all cards so that each row contains a complete suit in ascending order:

• Row 1: 2 through King of one suit
• Row 2: 2 through King of another suit
• Row 3: 2 through King of another suit
• Row 4: 2 through King of the fourth suit

Note: Which suit goes in which row is not predetermined - you decide this during play based on the card positions.

You can only move cards into gaps (empty spaces), and there are strict rules for which cards can be moved where:

• Main rule: A card can be moved to a gap if it is the same suit and one rank higher than the card to the left of the gap
• Leftmost position: Any 2 can be moved to a gap at the far left of a row
• Blocked gaps: Spaces to the right of Kings cannot be filled, as no card is higher than a King

Example: If you have ♣️5 followed by a gap, only ♣️6 can be placed there.

The game is played by moving one card at a time into gaps:

1. Look for gaps and identify which cards can legally move there
2. Each card you move creates a new gap where that card was
3. Continue moving cards until you either solve the game or become blocked

Tip: Be careful about creating gaps after Kings, as these cannot be used!

When you can't make any more moves (all gaps are blocked by Kings), you can reshuffle:

• All cards not in correct sequence from the left edge are collected
• Correct sequences (cards in proper order starting from 2) remain in place
• The collected cards are shuffled and redealt
• A gap is placed after each correct sequence in each row
• You typically have 2-3 reshuffles available

Spaces requires careful planning to succeed:

• Choose suits wisely: Since you can determine which suit goes in each row, plan based on card positions
• Switch suits if needed: You can move a 2 from one row to another to change which suit is being built there
• Avoid King blocks: Try to prevent situations where all gaps end up after Kings
• Think ahead: Consider the consequences of each move before making it
• Build long sequences: Focus on creating longer sequences that will survive the reshuffle

Victory: The game is won when all four rows have complete suit sequences from 2 to King.

Defeat: If you've used all reshuffles and still can't make any moves (all gaps are after Kings), the game is lost.

Success rates vary with the number of reshuffles allowed - with unlimited reshuffles, the game can always be solved!

There are several interesting variations of Spaces:

• Montana: Similar rules but may allow different reshuffling methods
• Addiction: Uses Aces in reshuffles to create new gap positions
• Fixed suit order: Suits are predetermined for each row (e.g., ♠️-♥️-♦️-♣️ from top)
• Limited reshuffles: From no reshuffles (very difficult) to unlimited
• No shuffle redeal: Cards are collected in order and redealt without shuffling
• Double Montana: Played with two decks in 8 rows