Solavantage Newsletter #3
Hello Solavant players!
I've had some nice email conversations with several players this past week. Some are requesting games, some are helping find hard-to-find errors, and some are chatting about solitaire in general. Thanks to everyone who has written, I've enjoyed the discussions and ideas.
This is the last week to vote in the Scorpion "Love It or Hate It?" poll from Newsletter #1. The Xerxes poll from Newsletter #2 is also still open. Please vote if you'd like to participate!
– Tom Cain, Smallware
Featured game - Sly Fox
Sly Fox is an older game that isn't well known. It's a strategic puzzle requiring a good bit of planning. Many sources consider almost all shuffles to be winnable.
The 4 foundations on the left are built in suit from Aces to Kings. The 4 foundations on the right are built similarly from Kings down to Aces.
20 reserve cards are dealt to the bottom of the layout. Reserve cards may be built onto foundations or placed onto any of the 20 tableau piles in the center. When the reserve is empty, 20 more cards may be dealt from the stock.
Sly Fox strategy
The tableau piles are where the strategic planning is done. Any reserve card can be played into any tableau pile, there are no restrictions. You must be careful playing these cards or you'll block the game.
There are many ways to block a foundation. The simplest is to place a tableau card on top of both lower cards of the same suit. For example, assume both 4D's are in a tableau pile, then you place a 5D on that pile. That 5D cannot ever be moved to the AD foundation – a 4D has to be on that foundation first and both 4D's are blocked.
This simple example doesn't block the entire game because it's still possible to move the 5D onto the KD foundation, which is built downward. Game-ending blocks are typically more complicated, with multiple suits and several cards in each pile to remember.
A general tip is to build tableau piles in suit and in an up or down direction. The cards don't have to be sequential - an 8H on a 10H works because you'll need the 8H before the 10H. But be careful that you don't build two of these suit piles in the same direction using duplicate ranks. If you build another pile with an 8H on a 10H, you've blocked the game.
Another tip is to use just one tableau pile just for the Aces and Kings. These cards are the last cards built into foundations, so no cards depend on them. If you put them all into one pile, they will be out of the way.
Final Sly Fox thoughts
Sly Fox is a good game if you enjoy strategy. It certainly isn't easy managing potential blocks over 20 tableau piles, even if nearly every game is winnable. When you do win, it's very satisfying knowing you bested the Fox's complexity.
Random Solavant tip
Solavant has three card sizes to accommodate the layouts of the various games. Sizes are changed in the View menu. Once you've set a card size for a particular game, Solavant will remember the setting every time you play that game in the future.
