Spend a charge. Open a route.

Two resources to keep track of

In Ember, all 52 cards are face up across eight columns. You build down in alternating colours and move cards to four same-suit foundations from Ace to King. The unusual part is the reserve: two spaces, each holding one card, backed by a shared supply of at most two charges.

Parking a card uses one charge. Taking it out makes the space available again, but does not refund that charge. Sending a card to a foundation restores one, up to the limit of two. It is therefore possible to have two empty reserves and no way to use either of them.

Before moving a blocker into reserve, name the next card you hope to free. If that card can go home, you have a route to recharge. If it just exposes another blocker, you may have spent flexibility without creating a useful next move.

One position, two ways through

The red seven covers the Ace of spades. A black eight is available in another column. Your aim is to uncover the Ace, move it home, and leave the seven on the eight. This focused example shows three cards from a complete deal; the other columns are omitted.

1. The reserve route: park the seven, spending a charge. Move the Ace to its foundation to restore the charge. Move the seven out onto the eight. You have used three moves and finish with two charges.
2. The direct route: put the seven straight onto the eight, then move the Ace home. You reach the same position in two moves, and never spend a charge.

There is another useful observation: if you take the seven out of reserve before moving the Ace home, the charge count stays at one. The foundation move is what restores it.

Use reserves for moves a column cannot make

The direct route is better here because a legal destination already exists. In a real deal, that destination may be buried. A reserve then earns its place by lifting a blocker that otherwise has nowhere to go.

Empty columns are particularly valuable: unlike Klondike, Ember lets any movable card or ordered run fill one. Use a free column to reorganise a run before spending a charge. When both reserves are occupied, work backwards from their cards: what rank and colour would receive each one, and can you expose it?

All information is visible, but that does not make every deal solvable. Hints identify legal moves, not a guaranteed path to the finish. Undo is useful for comparing branches; foundation cards cannot be pulled back directly in Ember.

Take it to the game

Play Ember Solitaire

These examples describe BoomWick’s rules. Found a mismatch or an unclear explanation? Report it so the guide can be corrected.