One up, one down
Three of our games share one rule: a card goes on the pile when it is one value higher or lower. The games differ in their layout, in whether King and Ace connect and in how much they hide. The way to play them well is the same.
The rule in one line
A card may go on the pile when its value is one above or one below the top card. Suits never matter.
In Hillside Steps the order is Ace to 7, Fante, Cavallo, Re, with no step from Re to Ace. In Marina Golf it is Ace to King, again without wrapping. In Three Hills the values wrap: King and Ace are neighbours.
Think in chains
Every stock card you turn starts a new chain and ends the old one. The score that matters is how many cards each stock card buys you. A chain of six is worth six single moves.
Before playing, trace the longest chain you can see: through the column bottoms in Steps and Golf, through the face-up cards in Three Hills. Then play it, and look again after each card – new cards come into reach as you go.
Forks
Often two cards fit: a 5 and a 7 on a 6. The chain continues differently depending on your choice. Look one card deeper into each branch and pick the one that leaves a next step.
A useful trick is to go down first and come back up: on a 6, play the 5, then a 4 if there is one, then perhaps another 5 and a 6. Valleys like this clear many cards for one start.
End values
Without wrap-around, the lowest and highest values connect in one direction only. An Ace accepts only a 2; a Re or King accepts only the value below. These are the cards most often left behind at the end.
Play end values when you can follow them, and expect to need a stock card whenever the pile shows one. In Three Hills this worry disappears: King, Ace and 2 make a normal chain.
The stock is your clock
None of the three games lets you go through the stock twice. Hillside Steps has 14 stock cards, Marina Golf 16, Three Hills 23. Turn a stock card only when nothing in the layout fits.
Keep a rough count of the stock against the cards still in the layout. When the layout holds more cards than you can hope to clear with the stock left, it is time to look for long chains rather than safe single moves.
Hidden cards in Three Hills
In Three Hills most of the layout starts face down. A card turns over when both cards covering it are gone. Between two equal moves, choose the one that turns a card over: it brings information and often a new step for the chain.
The three summits come free last. Keep the hills roughly even so that you are not left with one tall hill and nothing to play.
Columns in Steps and Golf
In the column games you can see every card from the start. The danger is a column that stays deep while the others empty: its upper cards are reachable only one by one from the bottom.
When two moves are equal, take from the fuller column. And look at what lies behind each bottom card – the second card of a column decides whether that column can continue your chain.