Frequently asked questions about Yukon
Does Yukon have a stock?
No. All 52 cards are dealt into 7 columns at the start: 21 face down and 31 face up. To make progress, you must uncover the face-down cards by moving the cards above them.
Can you move cards that are not in sequence?
Yes, this is the rule specific to Yukon. You can take any face-up card with all the cards placed on top of it, even if they are unordered: only the bottom card of the group must fit the destination card. In the app, a group can contain at most 20 cards. Move 2 of the game on the Examples page moves 4 unordered cards in this way.
What can be placed on an empty column?
Only a king, alone or with the cards above it. Any other group is rejected, even if moving it would uncover a face-down card. That is why you should avoid emptying a column unless you have a king ready to move into it.
What changes under Relaxed rules?
The New Game window offers two rule sets: Classic (the default) and Relaxed. In Relaxed mode, a card can go on any card one rank higher, regardless of color; in Classic mode, red and black must alternate. Everything else is identical, and the game code indicates the chosen rules.
How does the app calculate points?
Placing a card on a foundation earns 10 points, and turning over a hidden card earns 5; other moves earn nothing, and the score never drops below zero. The 52 cards on the foundations and the 21 cards turned over total 625 points in every winning game where no cards are taken back from the foundations. This is the score of the games on the Examples page.
Can every deal be won?
The app does not say, and this site does not measure it. The deals on the Examples page have a winning game verified move by move, with one exception: the program found no solution for YU1-C-AAAAAAE after examining 2 000 000 positions, which does not prove that the deal is unwinnable.
What does the game code mean?
The code, for example YU1-C-AAAAAAB, identifies a specific deal. C or R indicates Classic or Relaxed rules, and the last 7 characters identify the shuffle. Paste it into the Game Code field in the New Game window: you get the same deal on any device.
Can you undo a move?
Yes: the app keeps the last 100 moves, and undoing restores the cards, their face-up or face-down state, and the score. The move counter, however, does not go back down: an undone move still counts. You can also take the top card back from a foundation and place it on a column.