Play Osmosis Solitaire

Osmosis Solitaire game info

• Family: Other
• Decks: One deck (52 cards)
• Game time: Medium
• Chance of winning: Low to Medium
• Also known as: Treasure Trove

Objective

Move all the cards to the four foundation piles, following the specific rank-based unlocking rule that defines Osmosis.

Deal & layout

Osmosis Solitaire is played with one standard deck of 52 cards.

On the left are four reserve piles, each pile is dealt four cards with only the top card in a pile visible and playable.

Next to it are four foundation piles. The first card of the stock is dealt to the topmost foundation pile.

On the right is the stock, which has the remaining cards. These will be turned over three at a time to the waste pile.

Allowed moves

The top foundation pile is started immediately with the first card of the stock. The other three foundation piles must be started with a card of the same rank (but different suit) as this card. For example, if the top foundation starts with the 7♣, the other foundations must begin with 7♦, 7♥, and 7♠.

Once a foundation pile has a card, it is built up in suit, irrespective of rank.

Cards can only be moved to a foundation pile if the foundation pile immediately above it has the card with the same rank already on it. This is the rule that makes Osmosis unique and also gave it its name, as this resembles the osmosis effect.

The top card from the reserve piles and the top card from the waste pile are available to play onto the foundations. There is no building on the reserve piles.

When no more moves are possible, turn the stock to place three cards onto the waste pile.

Tips and Tricks

Osmosis Solitaire is not about building sequences, but about unlocking the right suits in the right order, and playing the right cards at the right moment.

• Focus on exposing the base cards for the locked foundations.
• Don’t play three cards in a row from the discard pile, because you won’t see new cards in the next run through the stock.
• More generally, it can be useful to leave playable cards in the waste to obtain certain other cards in the next run through the stock.
• An important choice is which suit you start the next foundation piles with. If a suit has many inaccessible cards (e.g. buried in the reserve piles), don’t start the second foundation with it.

Variants

Several related games use the same unlocking mechanic as Osmosis:

• Peek Solitaire: Follows the exact same rules as Osmosis, but all the cards in the reserve piles are face up. This gives more information and a better chance at completing a deal.
• Bridesmaids Solitaire: Similar rule for the foundations regarding the ranks, except foundations must alternate between card colors (red and black). The game has no reserve.

System requirements

Osmosis Solitaire can be played in all modern browsers, on all device types (desktop, tablet, mobile), and on all operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, ...).