Scorpion is a
patience
or forbearance, is the ability to endure difficult or undesired long-term circumstances. Patience involves perseverance or tolerance in the face of delay, provocation, or stress without responding negatively, such as reacting with disrespect ...
or
solitaire
Solitaire may refer to:
Film and television
*'' Le Solitaire'', a 1987 French film
* ''Solitaire'' (1991 film), a Canadian drama film
* ''Solitaire'' (2008 film), a drama film
*''Solitaire'', 2016 Lebanese comedy film with Bassam Kousa
*"Solit ...
card game
A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including famil ...
using a deck of 52
playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a f ...
s. Although somewhat related to
Spider
Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
, the method of game play is akin to
Yukon
Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
. The object of this game is to form four columns of suit sequence cards from king down to ace.
Gameplay
The game starts with 49 cards dealt into seven columns of seven cards each on the tableau. The first four columns each have three face-down cards with four face-up cards placed over them. The cards in the remaining three columns are all faced up. The three leftover cards are set aside for later.
Cards in the tableau are built down by suit and every face up card is available for play, no matter where in the column it is. That means that any card can be placed on top of a card that is a rank higher. Once a card from the bottom or middle of a column is moved, all cards on top of it are moved as well, as one unit. Nothing can be placed on an ace and gaps on the tableau can only be taken by kings or sequences with Kings as their top cards. Once a face-down card is exposed, it is turned face up.
When no more moves are possible, the three leftover cards are dealt onto the first three columns and put into play.
As earlier mentioned, the object of the game is to build four columns of suit sequences from king down to ace. So when one such column is built successfully, it is a general rule to leave this column alone, unless it covers a face-down card.
The game is won when the object is fulfilled.
Variants
Scorpion II is an alternate version of the game in which the number of columns containing three face-down cards and the number of columns in which all cards are faced up are the reverse of the prevalent version, i.e. the first ''three'' columns each have three face-down cards with four face-up cards placed over them while the cards in the remaining ''four'' columns are all faced up. Despite the reversal, the game remains the same but making it easier than regular "Scorpion".
Wasp is almost identical to Scorpion, except that when a space is formed in the tableau, any card or sequence can be placed in it. This gives the player more chances of winning than in Scorpion.
Three Blind Mice is another Scorpion variation with a starting tableau of 10 columns of five cards. The three rightmost columns should each have three bottom cards faced down and two top cards face up. The three cards in each of those columns gave the game its name after
the nursery rhyme. The five cards in each of the rest of the columns are all face up. The two leftover cards are set aside face up to be used any time in the game whenever necessary. Game play is the same as in Scorpion.
Curds and Whey is another spider type game in the style of Scorpion, and was created by
David Parlett
David Parlett (born 18 May 1939 in London) is a games scholar, historian, and translator from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. He is the president of the British Skat Association.
Life
David Sidney Parlett was bo ...
.
[Parlett, David (2020).]
Curds and Whey: A spidery game
''parlettgames.uk''.
References
See also
*
Yukon
Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
*
List of solitaire games
*
Glossary of solitaire terms
Games of patience, or (card) solitaires as they are usually called in North America, have their own 'language' of specialised terms such as "building down", "packing", "foundations", "talon" and "tableau". Once learnt they are helpful in de ...
{{Solitaire
Spider patience card games
Single-deck patience card games