Yukon lets you pick up any face-up card together with all the cards below it, even when that group is not in sequence. The destination only needs to accept the selected card. That freedom can expose hidden cards quickly, but it can also move a blockage from one column to another.
The useful question is therefore two-part: “Can this group move?” and “Can I separate its tail afterward?” The Yukon Solitaire game page covers the full rules. Here we work through a specific group whose last cards need different destinations.
Read the group from its selected card to its exposed end
Suppose column A contains a face-down card followed by face-up 7 of hearts, 2 of clubs and Queen of diamonds. The Queen is at the exposed end. Three other columns end at 8 of spades, King of clubs and 3 of diamonds respectively. This is a local teaching position, not a full deal with a claimed solution.
You may select 7 of hearts and move the whole group 7 of hearts, 2 of clubs, Queen of diamonds onto 8 of spades. The red 7 is one rank below the black 8. The 2 and Queen travel with it despite not forming a descending alternating-color sequence. This would not be a legal group move in Klondike.
The move exposes and turns the hidden card in column A. That is a concrete gain in information. It does not make the red 7 available as a receiver yet: the 2 and Queen are still below it.
Plan the next two destinations
- Move the group beginning with 7 of hearts onto 8 of spades, revealing the hidden card in its old column.
- Move Queen of diamonds from the group’s exposed end onto King of clubs.
- Move the newly exposed 2 of clubs onto 3 of diamonds.
The original group has now been separated. The column ending at 8 of spades now ends at 7 of hearts, ready to receive a black 6 if one becomes available. The Queen and 2 each have a legal home. These are three distinct moves; the first move does not automatically arrange the carried cards.
You do not need to know the identity of the hidden card to establish that these three moves are legal. You do need to reassess after it appears: its availability might create a better continuation than the planned one.
What changes if the black King is missing?
The first group move is still legal. But without a destination for Queen of diamonds, the particular three-step plan above is unavailable. You might relocate a larger group again, expose a different King, or find a foundation route later. None of those outcomes follows merely from the legality of the first transfer.
This is why “always uncover a hidden card” is a useful priority rather than a proof of the best move. Compare the information you gain with the access you lose. A buried receiving card may remain useful as the start of another movable group, but it is not an exposed landing place.
Use empty columns under the correct rule
Only a King-led group can fill an empty Yukon column. An empty space cannot temporarily hold the 2 of clubs or Queen of diamonds from our example. Count actual destinations rather than treating each vacancy like a FreeCell cell.
If a King is inside a face-up group, you can select that King and carry the cards after it into the vacancy. Inspect what the move exposes in its old column and whether the carried tail has an exit. There is no stock in Yukon, so waiting for a draw will not supply the missing receiver.
Separate rule mistakes from planning mistakes
If an unordered group refuses to move, check that its selected card is face up and one rank below an opposite-color destination. If it moves but leaves you blocked, inspect the exposed tail and the receivers you covered. Undo lets you revisit the choice; the replay guide explains how to compare one changed decision at a time.
For a simpler exercise in planning where each card will go, play classic Solitaire and practice alternating-color moves. Then try the worked idea in Yukon, remembering that Yukon also lets you move groups that are out of order. Neither game rewards moving a group without considering what becomes available next.