Spinner Patience: two packs and ten columns

Two packs and ten columns make Spinner Patience the big one on the Cards shelf. It uses two packs, deals them into ten columns, and asks you to spin out eight runs from king down to ace. It is a one-player game in Games by Zaweba, and it rewards patience in the old sense of the word: steady, careful play over a long deal.

If you enjoy Classic Patience but want something with more to think about, this is the natural next step.

Building down in any suit

On the ten columns, you build down in any suit. A six can go on any seven, whatever its suit. But there is a catch that shapes the whole game: only a run of one suit moves as a group. A mixed run, such as a seven of hearts on an eight of spades, can be built, but it cannot be picked up and moved together.

Any card, or any run, can go into an empty column.

When a column ends in a complete run from king to ace, all in one suit, it clears off the table and you score 100. Clear all eight runs to win.

When you have done what you can, click the stock to deal a new row. Every column must have a card in it before you can deal, so an empty column has to be filled first.

Undo, hint and deal keys

Drag or click cards to move them, and click the stock to deal. On the keyboard, Z undoes a move, H gives a hint and D deals.

Playing for single-suit runs

Because any suit can be built on any other, it is easy to make long, tangled columns that look tidy but cannot be moved. The art of Spinner Patience is preferring same-suit builds whenever you have the choice. A seven of clubs on an eight of clubs is worth much more than a seven of clubs on an eight of hearts, because the first can travel together later and the second cannot.

When you do have to build in mixed suits, think of it as temporary. It is fine as a way of getting a card out of the way, as long as you plan to sort it out.

Empty columns are your most valuable resource. They let you take a mixed column apart and put it back together in suit. Try to create one early, and think hard before filling it with a single card.

Before you deal a new row, make every useful move you can. A deal drops a card on every column, which can bury the runs you were building. Use undo to explore when you are not sure a sequence of moves will lead anywhere, and use the hint when you have truly run out of ideas.

A longer game for a longer evening

Spinner Patience in Games by Zaweba is not a quick game. A deal can take a good while, and it is satisfying to watch the runs clear off one by one. Esc pauses at any time, and the game pauses itself if you switch to another window, so a long deal survives interruptions. F1 brings back the rules if you forget whether a mixed run can move.

Your score, with its 100 for each cleared run, is kept on the game's tile in the library along with your plays and wins. It makes a fine contrast with Open Cells, where every card is visible, and with the quicker patience games on the same shelf.