Refuge Solitaire

Refuge Solitaire is a two-deck card puzzle based on Crescent Solitaire where you move cards from the outer tableau piles into eight foundation stacks in the centre. Four foundations build upward from Ace to King, while four build downward from King to Ace. The mistake I would avoid is moving a card simply because the move is legal. Opening a useful buried card is usually more important than rearranging the same few exposed cards.

About Refuge Solitaire

Refuge Solitaire uses two standard decks, giving you 104 cards to organize.

The aim is to move all cards from the surrounding tableau piles into eight foundations. Four foundations build upward by suit, while the other four build downward by suit.

Latest Refuge Solitaire Update

The current Poki edition lists April 2021 as its latest update after a March 2021 release on that platform.

The game itself is older. Ravalmatic’s official page lists 2016 as the original publication year and identifies the game as an HTML5 title built with Phaser.

Refuge Solitaire Cards

Every move revolves around suit and card value.

On the tableau, a card can be placed on another card of the same suit when it is exactly one rank higher or lower. That flexibility helps uncover cards that are buried deeper in the piles.

Refuge Solitaire Gameplay

The board surrounds eight foundation piles with the tableau cards positioned around them.

I find it more useful to look for moves that expose new cards rather than repeatedly shifting already-accessible cards between piles. The more hidden cards you reveal, the more options you usually create.

Controls

• Mouse: Click and drag a card
• Touchscreen: Tap and drag a card
• Drop: Place the card onto a valid tableau or foundation position

These controls are confirmed by the current browser listing.

The MDN Pointer Events guide provides useful technical background on how modern browser interfaces handle both mouse and touchscreen input.

Refuge Solitaire Foundation Piles

There are eight foundation piles in the middle of the board.

Four begin from Aces and build upward to Kings, while the other four begin from Kings and build downward toward Aces. Cards must remain in the same suit as they are placed.

That two-direction foundation system is what gives Refuge Solitaire much of its character.

Refuge Solitaire Tableau Rules

Cards can be moved between tableau piles when the suit matches and the rank differs by exactly one.

For example, a card may be placed on the next higher or next lower card of the same suit. Some current versions also allow any card to be placed into an empty tableau pile.

The useful decision is usually the move that uncovers the greatest number of future options.

Refuge Solitaire Hints And Shuffle

Some versions provide three hints and three reshuffles during a game.

These tools can help when no useful move is obvious, although using a reshuffle too early may waste an option that becomes more valuable later. An undo function is also available on certain modern versions.

Refuge Solitaire Time Limit

A commonly available version gives you 20 minutes to complete the full layout.

That sounds generous, but the two-deck structure can require a lot of planning once only a few difficult cards remain.

For another game where planning several moves ahead matters, Mahjong Firefly uses tile matching instead of playing cards.

Refuge Solitaire Strategy

The most useful moves are usually those that uncover blocked cards.

Building a foundation immediately is not always the best choice if that card might help reorganize another tableau pile first. Keeping several possible moves available reduces the chance of getting stuck with inaccessible cards.

Who Created Refuge Solitaire?

Refuge Solitaire was created by Ravalmatic.

The developer’s official portfolio describes it as a two-deck variation of classic Crescent Solitaire and lists HTML5 as the technology used for the game.

App And Platforms

Refuge Solitaire supports desktop, phone and tablet browser play.

Its drag-and-drop controls work naturally with both mouse and touchscreen interfaces.

Games Like Refuge Solitaire

The closest comparison is Crescent Solitaire, since Refuge Solitaire is directly based on that two-deck format.

Players who enjoy board-based planning can also try Mahjong Firefly, where the objective is clearing available matching tiles in the right order.

About This Game

Refuge Solitaire works best for players who enjoy card puzzles where every legal move is not necessarily a useful move.

Its strongest feature is the two-way foundation system. Building some suits upward and others downward creates more possibilities than a standard one-direction solitaire game, but it also makes planning ahead much more important.

Related Categories

Refuge Solitaire fits naturally into:

• Card Games
• Solitaire Games
• Brain Games
• Puzzle Games
• Classic Games
• Casual Games
• Mobile Games

Its current primary browser classification is Card Games, with Solitaire and Brain categories also attached to the listing.

More Games From This Developer

Ravalmatic has also created:

• Merge Cakes
• Foot Chinko
• Cricket Hero
• Battleships Armada
• Mafia Billiard Tricks
• Basket Champs
• Magikmon

These games cover card, sports, puzzle and adventure mechanics rather than staying within one genre.

Get The Game

Refuge Solitaire runs directly through supported desktop and mobile browsers.

There is almost nothing to learn about the controls before starting. Most improvement comes from understanding the two foundation directions, uncovering useful cards early and saving hints or reshuffles for positions where normal moves have genuinely run out.