Hillside Steps, deal #1

About this deal

This is one of the harder deals of Hillside Steps: only 0% of the quick simulated games won it, and the solver had to search for a while before finding the way.

The pile starts with the 2 of Coins. At the start you can reach Fante of Coins, Cavallo of Swords, Re of Cups, 2 of Cups and Fante of Batons.

None of them is one step away from the 2 of Coins, so the very first move is a stock card.

5 cards in the layout are end values (Ace and Re), which connect in one direction only – the cards most likely to be left behind.

The most common value in the layout is Fante (4 cards), so its neighbours 7 and Cavallo are the values to keep in sight.

14 cards wait in the stock; the solver's line turns 14 of them.

The solver's winning line has 39 moves.

Deal facts

Difficulty

Hard

Solver's winning line

39 moves, 14 of them stock turns

Quick simulated games won

0 of 200 (0%)

Starting card on the pile

2 of Coins

Cards in the layout

25

Cards in the stock

14

Cards playable at once

0

How to approach it

• Since the opening needs the stock, turn one card and stop: trace the chain it allows before playing anything.
• Plan the end values early: each of them needs exactly one neighbour on the pile at the right moment.
• This is a hard deal: use undo to test an idea, and the hint button if you are completely stuck.

A winning start

These are the first moves of the solver's winning line. Open them only if you want a nudge.