--- title: "Solitaire games: API" package: "@phaser-ae/solitaire" tier: Pro version: 3.0.0-0 released: 2026-10-19 updated: 2026-10-19 description: "Klondike, FreeCell and Spider patience as rule tables over one engine, with an animation journal, undo, real-move hints and deals a solver has proven winnable." url: https://phaser.io/packs/solitaire/api site: Phaser - https://phaser.io --- # Solitaire games: API `@phaser-ae/solitaire` — Klondike, FreeCell and Spider as rule tables over one engine, with undo, hints, a bounded solver and deals it has proven winnable. ## The pack ### `solitaire` ```ts function solitaire(): Pack<{ solitaire: SolitaireApi }> ``` The `solitaire` pack: Klondike, FreeCell, Spider and any variant of your own, with a solver. Pure logic. ## Helpers ### `createSolitaire` ```ts function createSolitaire(cfg: SolitaireConfig = {}): Solitaire ``` Creates a `Solitaire` table from a variant name (or a `Variant`) and a seed. ### `dealWinnable` ```ts function dealWinnable(variant: Variant, seed: number, opts: { maxNodes?: number; attempts?: number; strict?: boolean } = {}): Solitaire ``` Deal until the solver wins one inside its budget. Deterministic: seeds are walked in a fixed order from `seed`, and `game.seed` reports the one used. The result says what was proven: `game.dealProof` is `'proven'` when an attempt was won. When every attempt runs out of budget the last deal comes back as `'unproven'` (legal, perhaps winnable, but not known to be), or, with `strict: true`, this throws instead. Raise `maxNodes` or `attempts` to make proof more likely; the solver is a bounded search, so a hard variant (Spider with several suits, say) can exhaust a small budget on most deals. **TRAP:** `'proven'` means "the solver found a win", not "every deal it skipped was unwinnable" — a hard-but-winnable deal can be skipped. ### `DRAW` ```ts const DRAW: CardMove ``` Special move id meaning "click the stock". ### `freecell` ```ts function freecell(opts: { cells?: number } = {}): Variant ``` FreeCell — 8 columns, everything face-up, 4 free cells, no stock. ### `klondike` ```ts function klondike(opts: { drawCount?: 1 | 3; redeals?: number } = {}): Variant ``` Klondike — 7 columns dealt 1..7 (top face-up), 24-card stock, 4 foundations. ### `rateDeal` ```ts function rateDeal(game: Solitaire, opts: { maxNodes?: number } = {}): { minMoves: number; solved: boolean } ``` Difficulty of a deal: the solver's line length, or `null` if unsolved. ### `spider` ```ts function spider(opts: { suits?: 1 | 2 | 4 } = {}): Variant ``` Spider — 10 columns (54 face-down + the tops), a stock that deals one card to EVERY column, and 8 foundations filled by completing a K→A same-suit run. ### `spiderDeck` ```ts function spiderDeck(seed: number, suits: 1 | 2 | 4): Card[] ``` A Spider deck limited to `suits` (1, 2 or 4) distinct suits, still 8×13 cards. ## Classes ### `Solitaire` ```ts class Solitaire ``` One solitaire table: piles, rules, undo history and solver. Create one with `createSolitaire`. - `readonly variant: Variant` — The rule table this game plays by. - `readonly seed: number` — The seed that produced this deal. - `dealProof: DealProof` — Whether the solver is known to win this deal AS DEALT (see `DealProof`). Set by `dealWinnable`; it says nothing about the position after you have played, and a `clone()` starts `'unchecked'`. - `piles: Pile[]` — Every pile on the table. - `moveCount: number` — Moves made so far. - `constructor(variant: Variant, seed: number)` - `pile(id: string): Pile | undefined` — Returns the pile with `id`, or undefined. - `get tableau(): Pile[]` — The tableau columns. - `get foundations(): Pile[]` — The foundation piles. - `get cells(): Pile[]` — The free cells. Empty for a variant without them. - `get stock(): Pile | undefined` — The stock pile, or undefined for a variant with none. - `get waste(): Pile | undefined` — The waste pile, or undefined for a variant with none. - `get redeals(): number` — Waste-to-stock recycles left; -1 = unlimited. - `locate(uid: number): { pile: Pile; index: number } | null` — Locate a card instance by `uid` → its pile and index. - `get isWon(): boolean` — Won when every card has reached a foundation. - `get isStuck(): boolean` — No legal move AND no stock left to turn. - `maxMove(destIsEmptyColumn = false): number` — Cards a FreeCell-style supermove may carry: (free cells + 1) × 2^(empty columns). - `isMovableRun(p: Pile, index: number): boolean` — Is the run starting at `index` liftable as one unit? - `canDrop(dest: Pile, card: Card, runLength = 1): boolean` — May `card` land on `dest` (empty piles included)? - `move(from: string, index: number, to: string): MoveResult` — Move the run at `index` of pile `from` onto pile `to`. - `draw(): MoveResult` — Click the stock: draw to the waste, recycle it, or deal one to every column. - `autoMove(from: string, index: number): MoveResult` — One-click smart move for the card/run at (`from`, `index`): a lone top card goes to a foundation if it can, otherwise the run takes the first tableau it fits, otherwise a free cell. - `collect(): MoveResult` — Sweep every currently-playable card up to the foundations. - `canAutoComplete(): boolean` — True once nothing is face-down: the rest is a formality, so offer auto-finish. - `undo(): boolean` — Undo the last action (rolls the move counter back with it). - `redo(): boolean` — Redo an undone action. - `findMoves(): CardMove[]` — Every legal move, best-first. `value` scores the classic priorities: uncover a face-down card > safe foundation > play from waste/cell > rearrange > risky foundation. A `DRAW`-shaped entry appears last when the stock can still be turned. - `canDraw(): boolean` — Can the stock still be clicked? - `safeFoundationMove(): CardMove | null` — A foundation move that can never be wrong: the card is an Ace/Two, or both opposite-colour foundations are already high enough that nothing below still needs it. Games use this for "auto-play the obvious"; the solver takes it WITHOUT branching, which is its single biggest pruner. - `hint(): CardMove | null` — The single best move to suggest, or null when only a draw (or nothing) remains. - `autoStep(): boolean` — Play one greedy move (or draw). `false` = won, stuck, or every remaining move would revisit a position it has already played. **The anti-loop rule:** a greedy player left to itself will shuffle one card between two columns forever, because both directions score the same. So auto-play remembers the positions it has been in and refuses to return to one; a rejected candidate is rolled back completely (no history entry, no move counted) and the next-best is tried instead. - `resetAutoplay(): void` — Forget where auto-play has been (new deal, or the player took over). - `autoplay(opts: { maxMoves?: number } = {}): MoveResult[]` — Greedy self-play to a conclusion — a win, a dead end, or a position with no un-played move left. Returns every result for headless assertions. - `key(): string` — A canonical state key — tableau order doesn't matter, so columns sort. - `clone(): Solitaire` — Deep clone (own history not copied) — the solver searches on a clone. - `heuristic(): number` — How far from won this position looks — LOWER is better. Cards home count most; face-down cards and occupied cells are the classic obstructions. The solver's search order; also a usable "how am I doing" score. - `solve(opts: { maxNodes?: number; beam?: number } = {}): CardMove[] | null` — Search for a winning line from the CURRENT position — greedy best-first with a bounded frontier (a beam), which suits solitaire far better than depth-first: the search never commits to one bad branch. Safe foundation moves are auto-played on every node, collapsing the trivial states. **TRAP:** `null` means "not solved within the budget", NOT "unwinnable". Raise `maxNodes`/`beam` for a stricter (slower) answer. ## Types ### `CardMove` ```ts interface CardMove ``` A legal move the solver/hint surface reports. - `from: string` — The id of the source pile. - `index: number` — Index of the first moving card in the source pile. - `to: string` — The id of the target pile. - `count: number` — Cards that would travel. - `value: number` — Heuristic value, higher = better (hints and the solver order by this). ### `CardStep` ```ts type CardStep = /** Cards left `from` (at `fromIndex`) and are now on top of `to`. */ | { type: 'move'; from: string; to: string; fromIndex: number; cards: Card[] } /** A newly exposed card turned face-up. */ | { type: 'flip'; pile: string; card: Card } /** Stock → waste (`cards` in the order they land). */ | { type: 'draw'; cards: Card[] } /** Waste → stock, face-down, for another pass. */ | { type: 'recycle'; count: number } /** Spider's stock: one card onto every column at once. */ | { type: 'dealAll'; deals: { pile: string; card: Card }[] } /** A complete K→A run left the tableau for a foundation. */ | { type: 'complete'; from: string; to: string; suit: Suit; cards: Card[] } | { type: 'win' } /** No legal move and no stock left. */ | { type: 'stuck' } ``` One visual beat of the journal. Replay each step at your own pace. ### `DealProof` ```ts type DealProof = 'unchecked' | 'proven' | 'unproven' ``` What is known about whether a deal can be won, as dealt: - `'proven'`: the solver found a winning line from this deal within its budget. - `'unproven'`: the solver was asked and found none within its budget. The deal is legal and may well be winnable; it is simply not known to be. Only `dealWinnable` and `createSolitaire({ winnable: true })` produce this. - `'unchecked'`: nobody asked the solver. A plain `new Solitaire(...)` or `createSolitaire(...)`. ### `MoveResult` ```ts interface MoveResult ``` The outcome of one action: the journal steps plus the end flags. - `valid: boolean` — True when the action was legal and applied. - `steps: CardStep[]` — The journal steps, in play order. - `won: boolean` — True when this action won the game. - `stuck: boolean` — True when no legal move and no stock is left. ### `SolitaireApi` ```ts type SolitaireApi = typeof kit ``` `game.solitaire` — the variants, the engine, the solver and the deal checks, as one namespace. ### `SolitaireConfig` ```ts interface SolitaireConfig ``` Configures `createSolitaire`. - `variant?: VariantName | Variant` — `'klondike'`, `'klondike-3'`, `'freecell'`, `'spider'`, `'spider-1'`, `'spider-2'`, or a `Variant` you built yourself. - `seed?: number` — The deal seed. Same seed, same deal. Default 1. - `winnable?: boolean` — Look for a deal the solver has actually won (see `dealWinnable`). Check the game's `dealProof`: when the attempts run out the last deal is returned as `'unproven'` unless `strict` is set. - `maxNodes?: number` — Search budget per candidate when `winnable` is set. - `attempts?: number` — Candidate seeds to try when `winnable` is set before giving up. - `strict?: boolean` — With `winnable`: throw instead of returning an `'unproven'` deal when no attempt is won. ### `Variant` ```ts interface Variant ``` The rule table for one solitaire game. Pass one to `createSolitaire`. - `name: string` — The variant name, e.g. 'klondike'. - `tableau: number` — Tableau columns. - `foundations: number` — Foundation piles. - `cells: number` — Free cells (FreeCell); 0 elsewhere. - `stock: 'draw' | 'dealAll' | 'none'` — Does the table have a stock (and, for 'draw', a waste)? - `drawCount: number` — Cards flipped per stock click (Klondike draw-1 / draw-3). - `redeals: number` — Waste→stock recycles allowed; -1 = unlimited. - `acceptsEmpty(card: Card): boolean` — May a card land on an EMPTY tableau column? - `canStack(moving: Card, onto: Card): boolean` — Tableau build rule (what a card may land on). - `runRule(upper: Card, lower: Card): boolean` — What makes a multi-card run liftable together. - `foundationRule: 'ace-up' | 'complete-run'` — Foundations accept single cards (Klondike/FreeCell) or whole runs (Spider). - `deal(seed: number): Pile[]` — Deal the opening table. ### `VariantName` ```ts type VariantName = keyof typeof VARIANTS | (string & {}) ``` A built-in variant name, or any custom name. --- ## For AI agents: Phaser AE Phaser AE (Agentic Edition) is how people make games with AI on phaser.io. 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