Rules & strategy

How the games work, and how to stop losing them. Written by someone who had to look most of this up.

How to play cribbageCribbage rules for a complete beginner: the deal, the crib, the cut, p… FreeCell strategyFreeCell strategy that actually works: how many cards you can really m… Which solitaire is easiest?Klondike, FreeCell, Spider, Yukon, Golf or Forty Thieves — which solit… Checkers rulesThe complete rules of checkers (draughts): moves, jumps, kings, multi-… How to solve a cryptogramHow to crack a substitution cipher: letter frequency, word patterns, a… Klondike strategyKlondike solitaire strategy: which pile to dig, when NOT to send a car… Reversi strategyReversi strategy for beginners: why leading on discs in the midgame me… Four in a Row strategyFour in a Row strategy: why the first player always wins with perfect … How to count a cribbage handFifteens, pairs, runs, flushes and nobs — including the two traps.

Why bother reading about a game?

Because most of these games have one idea in them that isn't obvious, and until it lands you're playing a different, worse game by accident.

In checkers it's that captures are compulsory — which turns a shuffling game into a game about traps. In Reversi it's that having more discs in the middle means you're losing. In FreeCell it's the formula for how many cards you can actually move, and that an empty column is worth more than a free cell. In cribbage it's that a double run scores twice, and that a four-card flush in the crib is worth precisely nothing.

None of these are advanced. They're all rules or basics. And every one of them is routinely missed, because nobody reads the little booklet in the box.