Alhambra (solitaire)

Alhambra is a solitaire card game which is played using two decks of playing cards. Its unusual feature is akin to that of Crazy Quilt: the cards in the reserve are built either on the foundations or on a waste pile.

First, one King and one Ace is removed from the shuffled decks and placed in a row as foundations. Right below them, eight piles of four cards are dealt; these piles serve as the reserve.

The King foundations are built down by suit while the Ace foundations are built up, also by suit.

The top cards of the reserve piles are available only to be built on the foundation; there is no building. When there are no more moves possible, the stock is dealt, one card at a time, on the waste pile, the top card of which is available. The cards on the wastepile can be built on the foundations, while it can be built upon by cards from the reserve piles.

When the stock is exhausted, the waste pile (which by then already includes cards from the reserve) is picked up and turned over to become the new stock. This can be done twice in the entire game.

The game finishes soon after the stock is exhausted the third time. The game is won when all cards are built into the foundations.