OPEN THE SPACE. UNTANGLE THE SUITS.
Wasp Solitaire
Wasp is Scorpion solitaire with its cruellest rule removed: any card or group may move to an empty column, not just a King. Same deal, same in-place King-to-Ace suit sequences, same unordered group moves — but where our solver wins about 13% of Scorpion deals, it wins 77.9% of Wasp deals. This is the family’s friendly face. No ads, no sign-up, unlimited undo, and honest hints.
Learn Wasp Solitaire in 90 seconds: rules and tips
The seven-column deal with a reserve, the anything-moves group rule, why the empty column is your workbench, and five Wasp habits. Full written rules follow below.
In this video
01 · SEVEN COLUMNS. THREE RESERVE CARDS.
How to play Wasp solitaire
The deal is identical to Scorpion: seven columns of seven, with the bottom three cards of the first four columns face down, and a three-card reserve you may deal onto the first three columns once, at any moment. Moves too: lift any face-up card with everything above it — order inside the group is irrelevant — and drop it on the card exactly one rank higher in the same suit. The one difference is the empty column: in Wasp anything may move there. You win when all four suits stand as complete King-to-Ace columns, built where they lie.
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7 02 · ANY CARD MAY ENTER AN EMPTY COLUMN
Why one rule changes everything
In Scorpion an empty column is a locked door only a King can open; in Wasp it is a universal workbench. Any awkward group can be parked there, which means burials are temporary rather than fatal — you can lift the junk off a needed card, set it aside, and put it back somewhere better. The measured effect is dramatic: over 1,000 random deals our search solver proved wins on 77.9% of Wasp deals against 12.8% for Scorpion, and even that understates the gap, since the solver gave up within its budget on some winnable boards. Roughly four deals in five are winnable, which turns the family’s trademark frustration into a solvable puzzle.
03 · PARK. REVEAL. REBUILD.
Playing the empty column well
Free empties reward a different instinct than Scorpion: make empty columns instead of fearing them. A short column is an excavation target — clear it, and every subsequent problem in the game gets easier, because the empty slot lets you unstack any burial one group at a time. The classic manoeuvre is the two-step dig: park a blocking group on the empty column, take the card it was smothering to its same-suit home, then decide at leisure where the parked group belongs. Just avoid the lazy version — dumping cards onto the empty column without a plan rebuilds the same tangle one column to the left.
04 · THE EASIER COUSIN—NOT EASY MODE
Wasp vs Scorpion: which should you play?
Play Scorpion when you want the family at full difficulty — a game you will lose more often than win, where the deal itself is the opponent. Play Wasp when you want the same mechanics with room to think: identical deal, identical same-suit single-destination logic, but mistakes are recoverable and most deals reward persistence. Wasp is also the better teacher — the empty-column freedom lets you see why a Scorpion board would have been dead, because in Wasp you can actually perform the rescue that Scorpion forbids.
The solver found a winning line within its search budget.
05 · TWO FIXED LESSONS
Create the space, then spend it well
Both lessons restart to the same seed-one deal. First create an empty column in one move. Then use Wasp’s relaxed rule to keep uncovering the twelve cards still face down.
01Open an empty columnMove the entire fifth column onto the J♥. Only the bottom 10♥ must fit, so all seven cards travel together and leave a completely empty column behind.+
02Reveal three hidden cardsTreat the empty column as a workbench, not a warehouse. Park an awkward group, expose a hidden card, then move the parked cards onward until three buried cards are face up.+
06 · MAKE THE SPACE WORK TWICE
Wasp strategy tips
How to convert the four-in-five winnable deals:
- 01Empty the shortest column
Empty a short column early — a free slot makes every later burial recoverable, and columns five to seven start with no face-down cards to fight.
- 02Use the space twice
Use the empty column as a workbench, not a warehouse: park a group, free the card beneath, and move the group on — do not let it settle.
- 03Reveal before tidying
Flips still come first: the twelve face-down cards in columns one to four are the only unknowns in the game.
- 04Keep clean suit tails
Keep the reserve for a genuine stall. With free empties you will stall far later than in Scorpion — the three cards go further when the board is truly stuck.
- 05Hold the reserve
Before parking a group, check where its bottom card will eventually land; the best parking spot is one where the group can later leave in one move.
07 · QUICK ANSWERS
Wasp solitaire FAQ
01How is Wasp solitaire different from Scorpion?+
One rule: in Wasp any card or group may move to an empty column, while Scorpion admits only Kings. Deal, group moves, the one-shot reserve, and the in-place King-to-Ace goal are identical.
02How is Wasp solitaire set up?+
Seven columns of seven cards — the first four columns hide their bottom three cards face down — plus a three-card reserve dealt onto the first three columns once, whenever you choose. The whole 52-card deck is on the table from the first move.
03What percentage of Wasp games can be won?+
Our search solver proved wins on 77.9% of 1,000 random deals within its budget — roughly four in five, and a lower bound since some unresolved deals are also winnable. Deals here are random, not drawn from a curated pool.
04How do group moves work in Wasp?+
Lift any face-up card together with everything above it — the cards in the group do not need to be in any order — and place it on the card exactly one rank higher in the same suit, or on any empty column. Lifting off a face-down card flips it up.
05How do I win — are there foundations?+
No foundations: the four King-to-Ace suit sequences are assembled in place inside the columns, and the game is won the moment all four stand complete.
06Is Wasp a good introduction to Scorpion?+
The best one. Every skill transfers — same-suit destinations, flip priority, reserve timing — but the free empty column lets you recover from the burials that end a Scorpion game, so you can learn the family’s logic while actually winning.