How to play Scorpion
A practical guide to the objective, legal flow, and decisions that matter in this playable version.
Objective
Scorpion Solitaire clears four complete same-suit runs from King down to Ace. Tableau cards build downward by suit, while a selected face-up card may carry every card beneath it to a legal same-suit destination.
How a turn works
Move an exposed card and its attached packet onto the next higher card of the same suit. An empty column accepts only a King-led packet. Reveal face-down cards when uncovered. Deal the small reserve row when it best supports the layout, and complete suited King-to-Ace sequences to remove them.
Strategy that changes the outcome
Focus on suit connections and access to hidden cards. An unordered packet can travel, but it may obstruct the destination until later, so compare what the move reveals with what it buries. Empty columns are scarce and should usually receive a King that frees a long same-suit route.
First decision: Move any face-up card with all cards beneath it, even an unordered packet, onto the next-higher card of the same suit. Only King-led packets fill empty columns.
A common mistake to avoid
Descending ranks of different suits cannot form a legal destination. Scorpion is stricter about the landing suit than Klondike, even though it is generous about the packet carried below the selected card.
Three useful table habits
- Map same-suit neighbours before moving a large packet.
- Save an empty column for a productive King-led group.
- Use the reserve when it opens connections, not merely because play slows.
A question players ask
Why does an unordered Scorpion packet move together?
Only the selected card must legally follow the destination. All cards below it travel as attached cards. They still need later reorganisation into a complete same-suit descending run before removal.
About this guide
We compare the rules shown in the game with the implemented legal moves, complete representative deals, and review desktop and mobile presentation. If a house rule changes play, the in-game How to play panel takes precedence. Read How games are researched and tested.