Hillside Steps, deal #22

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 5 of Cups. At the start you can reach Re of Swords, 2 of Batons, 6 of Batons, 3 of Coins and 7 of Coins.

One of them fits on the 5 of Cups straight away.

Played perfectly, the opening run reaches 2 cards before the first stock card is needed.

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 3 (4 cards), so its neighbours 2 and 4 are the values to keep in sight.

14 cards wait in the stock; the solver's line turns 13 of them.

The solver's winning line has 38 moves.

Deal facts

Difficulty

Hard

Solver's winning line

38 moves, 13 of them stock turns

Quick simulated games won

0 of 200 (0%)

Starting card on the pile

5 of Cups

Cards in the layout

25

Cards in the stock

14

Cards playable at once

1

Longest opening run

2

How to approach it

• Plan the end values early: each of them needs exactly one neighbour on the pile at the right moment.
• Spread your moves across the columns so that no column is left deep and alone at the end.
• 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.