Stuck trying to beat Churchill Solitaire? Here’s a few tips and tricks we gleaned while playing the addictive new solitaire app for iOS
This week, Churchill Solitaire, a surprisingly addictive new game for iPhones, iPads hit the iOS app store offering a devilish twist on the classic single-player card game. The game, which was brought to the app store by two-time United States secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, includes an interesting back-story, compelling musical scores and gorgeous graphics that are making it a popular download on the iOS app store. But try playing the game and it doesn’t take you long to realize; this isn’t your ordinary, run-of-the-mill solitaire variation. The game is tantalizingly difficult, which in turn makes it maddeningly addictive.
After spending more time than I’d like to admit playing the strategic solitaire game, I feel that while I’m nowhere near mastering it, I finally have the hang of how it works – I’ve even won a few games in easy, medium and hard mode. I’ve also picked up a few tips to help me power through which I share with you below.
Churchill Solitaire Background And Origins
According to the Washington Post, Rumsfeld learned the game from a protégé of Churchill. As the story goes, the British prime minister played the card game throughout World War II – particularly when he was having trouble sleeping. The game helped Churchill improve his strategic thinking
From the first time Rumsfeld played the game as a young diplomat, he was hooked and that passion for Churchill’s solitaire lead him to partner with app developers to bring iOS users the electronic version of the game.
Churchill Solitaire Gameplay Rules: How To Play
Churchill Solitaire shares similarities with the classic “Patience” solitaire game if it were played with two decks. The two decks give you eight homes stacks or “victory piles” instead of the standard four. You have ten columns stacking deeper inward so that you end up with an inverted isosceles triangle of columns.
You can move cards between these columns, building down on each other with alternating red and black cards. Aces are low. When an ace is free, you can start a home stack and build upwards in that suit. The object of the game is to build both sets of four suits from the Ace up to the King.
If you are out of moves, you can deal out a new layer of 9 cards to go over top all available columns that don’t begin with a King. If you get to the bottom of your deal deck and have no other available moves, you’ve lost.
Now here’s the twist. There’s this damned Devil’s six. This is a set of six cards that are stuck at the top of your board and cannot be played on the columns. The can ONLY be played on the victory piles. If you don’t play them you can’t win, and boy are they a bugger.
Sound tricky? It is! The best way to understand how to play is simply to play the game and see how far you can get. In the meantime, here are a few tips I’ve picked up in playing the game.
Churchill Solitaire Game Tips: How To Win Once In A While
Churchill Solitaire Tip #1: Clear The Devil Six As Soon As You Can
There is absolutely no way you can win Churchill Solitaire unless you get rid of this group of cards. If you are practicing in the easy mode, it’s not too difficult to do, as a couple of the cards in the pile will be aces. Before you move cards or stack them on you Victory piles, you need to assess the cards in you Devil’s six pile and devise a plan for getting those moved.
Churchill Solitaire Tip #2: Don’t Move Your Cards To The Victory Piles Too Quickly
Though the object of the game is to get all the cards onto the Victory piles, you want to be careful which ones you move there and when. If you have a column, for instance, that starts with a King, there’s really not a huge rush to move those cards to the Victory piles because they can’t be covered up if you have to deal out more cards. Unless it will help you get rid of your Devil’s six, think carefully about moving cards to the Victory Pile. If you can leave a card down on a column and it allows you to tag more cards on top of it from a different column, freeing up new cards or columns, this is more advantageous than moving it to the Victory Pile, just because you can.
Churchill's Solitaire Tip #3: When You Think You Have No More Moves, Check Again
Ok, having 10 columns and 8 Victory Piles can be quite a lot to keep up with so if you think you have no more moves, there’s a good chance you need to check once more. Sometimes stacks may look complete or immovable, but in fact, they can be moved. If there are several locations a card or set of cards could be moved, try moving them around and see if it changes anything. You’ll be surprised what it sometimes lying right in front of you.
Churchill Solitaire Tip #4: Even If It Looks Like You Are Defeated, Soldier On!
Ok, there have definitely been times in this game when I thought I was a total goner, but with patience and soldiering on, the outcome has sometimes changed – even right up to the end! Churchill Solitaire is not for the faint of heart and you’ll earn cookie points toward you career for simply finishing a game. According to the game’s developers, even the best of players only win about 1 out of 4 times so if you lose a few, you’re in good company. Don’t give in! Continue the fight!
We know that learning a whole new variation of solitaire can be daunting, so don’t worry if Churchill Solitaire isn’t appealing to you yet. If you need to work your way up to the difficult and addicting new game, start out with the classics on SolitaireBliss.com. With 30 different solitaire games with classic graphics, this mobile-friendly website and app offer players the chance to learn the rules of solitaire variants and hone their skills.
Have some tips and tricks you've learned for beating the challenging Churchill Solitare game? Share them in the comments below!
