Play Octave Solitaire Online for Free
Octave is a double-deck Napoleon family patience with eight tableau columns, two face-down rows per column, and eight grace reserve cells. The grace cells act like temporary holding slots: park any top card there to unlock a buried card or create a more productive sequence. Alternating-colour building and an 80-card stock round out a rich strategic puzzle. Win rate is around 35% with optimal grace cell use.
What is Octave Solitaire?
Octave Solitaire uses two standard decks (104 cards). Eight tableau columns are dealt three cards each: the bottom two cards are face-down and the top card is face-up, giving 24 tableau cards and leaving 80 in the stock. Eight grace reserve cells sit above the tableau; any top card from the waste or a tableau column can be parked in an empty grace cell and later moved to the tableau or a foundation. Tableau columns build down in alternating colours. Only one card at a time may be moved. Eight foundations must be built from Ace to King in suit. One card is drawn at a time from the stock; no redeals.
Octave Solitaire layout explained
The name "Octave" refers to the eight tableau columns. With only one face-up card per column at the start, Octave begins with very limited information: you see just eight cards out of 104. The two hidden cards beneath each top card are revealed one at a time as the top card is moved. The eight grace cells above the tableau serve as temporary staging spots: clicking an empty grace cell moves the top waste card there, and any grace card can be dragged to a legal tableau or foundation position. The 80-card stock and two-layer hidden information make managing grace cells the central strategic skill.
How to play Octave Solitaire
Octave Solitaire rules and objective
Move all 104 cards to the eight foundation piles, each built from Ace to King in a single suit. A card may be placed on a tableau column if it is one rank lower and opposite in colour to the current top card. Any top card from the waste or tableau may be moved to an empty grace cell; grace cards may then be moved to the tableau or foundation. Only one card at a time may be moved. Face-down cards flip automatically when the card above them is removed. Empty columns accept any single card. Draw one card at a time from the stock to the waste; no redeals.
Game setup
- Shuffle two standard 52-card decks together (104 cards total).
- Deal two face-down cards to each of eight columns.
- Deal one face-up card on top of each pair, giving eight columns of three.
- Reserve eight grace cells above the tableau - all start empty.
- Reserve space for eight foundation slots.
- Place the remaining 80 cards face-down as the stock.
Strategies to win Octave Solitaire
- Move face-up cards as soon as possible to flip hidden cards. With only one face-up card per column at the start, each move that exposes a face-down card is a major information gain. Prioritise moves that uncover hidden cards over moves that merely rearrange face-up cards.
- Pair face-up cards with waste to generate flips. If the top waste card forms a valid alternating-colour pair with a tableau top card, use that move to expose the face-down card beneath - even if the resulting position is not ideal, the information may be worth it.
- Pace your stock draws carefully. With 80 cards in the stock and no redeal, the stock is a substantial resource but also represents unknown information. Each draw removes one card from the stock permanently - delay drawing until you have productive positions to receive the card.
- Avoid filling all eight columns with face-up cards only. Columns that never get their face-down cards flipped will eventually block progress. Make sure each column is being worked toward revealing its hidden cards.
- Use alternating-colour flexibility to build multi-suit bridges. Unlike same-suit games, alternating-colour building lets you stack across suits as long as colours alternate. Use this to create longer runnable sequences that can be cleared column by column.
Octave vs similar Napoleon family games
| Game | Columns | Face-down | Build rule | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red and Black | 8 × 4 | None | Alt colour | ~35% |
| Octave | 8 × 3 | 2 per col | Alt colour | ~35% |
| Midshipman | 9 × 4 | 2 per col | Any except own | ~45% |
| Deauville | 10 × 4 | 3 per col | Alt colour | ~55% |
Octave Solitaire FAQ
Why is it called Octave Solitaire?
The name "Octave" refers to the eight tableau columns - an octave in music spans eight notes. Like several Napoleon family games named for their structural properties (Forty Thieves for 40 starting tableau cards, Sixty Thieves for 60), Octave uses its central structural feature - the eight columns - as its identifier. The name appears in 19th and early 20th-century patience collections.
How does Octave compare to Red and Black Solitaire?
Both games use eight columns and alternating-colour building with two decks. The key difference is that Red and Black deals four face-up cards per column (all visible), while Octave deals three cards per column with two face-down and one face-up. Octave's hidden information creates a more exploratory game; Red and Black is a pure positional puzzle from the first move. Both games have a similar win rate around 35%.
Why is the stock so large in Octave Solitaire?
Octave's eight columns of three cards hold only 24 of the 104 total cards, leaving 80 in the stock. This is the largest stock in any standard two-deck Napoleon variant. The large stock means the game depends heavily on stock draw order: even a well-played tableau can be stymied if critical Aces and 2s are buried near the bottom of the 80 undrawn cards. The face-down cards add a second layer of uncertainty alongside the stock order.
Can you move sequences in Octave Solitaire?
No. Octave uses the single-card movement rule common to most Napoleon family games. Alternating-colour sequences build naturally on the tableau, but each card must be moved individually. For an alternating-colour Napoleon game with sequence movement, try Number Ten Solitaire or Rank and File Solitaire.