Solavantage Newsletter #1

Hello Solavant players! This is the first issue of the Solavantage newsletter. Each issue will feature rules and strategy for one game, plus any relavant Smallware news we have. The best way to improve this resource is with player input, so please share your own ideas and comments with us. Thanks for reading!

– Tom Cain, Smallware

Featured game - Scorpion

Scorpion is the game featured in this first newsletter because it's my personal favorite. I've only ever won it a few times but searching for possible moves is a fun challenge.

Scorpion is a spider-type of game, where all building is done within the tableau. The goal is to build and discard 4 sequences from King down to Ace in suit. Any face-up card can be moved, covered or not. The 3 stock cards may be dealt to the left 3 columns at any time.

The game seems simple at first. You can move any face-up card, thus many potential moves are available. But be careful if you want to win or score well. The 12 face-down cards are Scorpion's "sting" and the game will block quickly if you don't release them. Getting these cards out is the most important step toward winning.

Scorpion strategies

Let's use the layout in the screenshot above as an example (you can click it to get a bigger view in another window). Start with releasing a face-down card, which should be the highest priority. Do this by moving the card covering the bottommost face-down card in a column. In this example, the first cards to try moving are KD, 7S, JD and 2C. Note the uncovered QD at the bottom of the fourth column. By moving the JD onto the QD, the face-down card under the JD will be released.

Simple moves like this are not common. You'll often need to look several moves ahead, which is difficult with so many moves available at any time. The key is to plan forward in your mind then move backward on the table. With this method you don't have to remember your moves as you plan.

Using the screenshot again, let's try to move the KD to release another face-down card. Kings can only be moved to empty spaces, so we'll have to move the 3S, QC or AC to create a space. Start with the AC in your mind. There is only one possible place it can ever move, the 2C. Find the 2C and see that it is covered with the 5D. The 5D can only be moved onto the 6D. Find the 6D and see that it is uncovered! Now it's time to actually move the cards, working backward from the 6D. The 6D takes the 5D, so move and uncover the 2C. The 2C takes the AC, so move and leave a space. The space takes a King. This could be any King but releasing face-down cards is a priority. We'll move the KD and release a card. Practice forward-backward moves like this and you'll get the rhythm of how to work Scorpion.

Another tip is to watch out for uncovered Aces. These block potential moves and remove a column from play because no cards can be built onto Aces. In general, when you have other choices available, don't uncover an Ace. When you do have uncovered Aces, try to move them into the left 3 columns before dealing the 3 cards from the stock. The stock cards will cover the Aces and open these columns back up for play.

Final Scorpion thoughts

A well-played game of Scorpion is unlikely to come out, but still fun if you like searching ahead for moves. Scoring is interesting because getting high positive numbers is hard unless you play well. And there is complexity even after you master planning forward and moving backward, such as multiple forward-backward chains that intersect.

My favorite solitaire, Scorpion is the game I play – and lose – the most. Give it a try yourself.

Random Solavant tip

You don't have to drag cards all the way to the end of columns and place them perfectly. Drop a card anywhere on a column. If it can move to the end of that column, Solavant will put it there automatically.

What games do you want featured?

Players know best, so tell us what games you'd like featured in Solavantage. If you like, you can even write an entire strategy feature yourself. We'll put it in Solavantage and credit you as the contributer.

How to request new games for Solavant

Several players have requested new games for Solavant. Thanks to all who have written. Two of the games added so far have been player requests and others are on the way. If you have a game you'd like added, tell us about it!