Alaska Solitaire Strategy Guide
Alaska is Yukon with a different building rule. All 52 cards are on the table from the first move, any face-up card can carry the cards on top of it, and you build on the table by suit, going up or down by one. That makes it a game of choosing which link to keep. This guide covers what to do first, how to build in suits, how to use empty columns and when to send cards to the foundations.
Opening principles
The first column has one face-up card. Each column to the right has one more face-down card than the last, up to six, with five face-up cards on top. You build the four foundations from Ace to King by suit, and on the table you build up or down by one in the same suit. Only a King, with whatever sits on it, can go into an empty column.
- The card you pick up must fit. Cards on top of it come along for free, but the card you grab has to be the same suit as the destination and one rank away.
- Turn hidden cards first. Every card you flip adds options. Prefer the move that uncovers a face-down card.
- Dig where the hidden cards are. The right-hand columns hide the most, so make progress there before you build on them.
Building in suits
Every card has two possible neighbours in its suit, one rank above and one below. That flexibility is what makes Alaska different from Yukon, and it is also easy to waste.
- Keep the useful link. A 6 of spades on the 7 of spades can later take the 5 of spades; a 6 on the 5 can take the 7. Pick the one that matches the cards you are about to free.
- Long same-suit runs are strong. A run such as 9, 8, 7 of one suit can be lifted as a whole onto a 10 of that suit, and the run is easy to extend at either end.
- Mixed piles are fine. A pile does not have to be in sequence to move; only its top card matters when you pick it up.
Empty columns and Kings
An empty column is the most useful tool in Alaska, but only a King fits in it, so it is only worth making when a King is within reach.
- Empty a column when a King is ready. An empty space with no King available is wasted.
- Move Kings that sit on hidden cards. A King on top of face-down cards is the one to relocate; it releases the hidden cards under it.
- Leave a King that is already first in its column. Moving it to an empty column gains nothing: you just swap one empty column for another.
Foundations
Aces and 2s should go up at once. After that, think before you send a card to a foundation, because a low card can be the link another card needs.
- Do not rush the middle ranks. A 5 or 6 often does more good on the table than on a foundation.
- You can take a card back. On this site the top card of a foundation can be moved back to a column, so a hasty move is not fatal, but it costs a move.
- Once every column is face up and in descending order, the game collects the rest for you.
Common mistakes
- Burying hidden cards. Building on a column that still has face-down cards makes them harder to reach.
- Moving stacks that free nothing. A move that does not turn a card, open a column or enable another move only wastes your options.
- Using up a link too soon. If you put the 6 on the 7, that 7 can no longer take the 8 until you move the 6 again. Check what you block.
Advanced techniques
- Look two moves ahead. Before moving a stack, check what the card under it will be able to do once it is free.
- Use Undo freely. Alaska rewards trying a line and backing out when it fails.
- Use the Solver after a loss. It shows whether the deal could still be won and how.
How winnable are the deals?
In our screening, the solver found a full winning line within its search limit for about 72% of 6,000 random Alaska deals (4,323 of them). That is a lower bound: the search is limited, and the solver does not use the move that takes a card back from a foundation. New games and the Daily Challenge only use deals the solver has proved winnable, so a winning line always exists. The solver knows every hidden card and you do not, so winnable does not mean easy.
Practice and play
Play a few deals with one rule: before you move a stack, say what card it turns over or what column it opens. If the answer is nothing, look for a better move. That habit separates quick wins from slow struggles.