Players
1 player.
Deck
One standard 52-card deck, shuffled.
Goal
The goal of Monte Carlo Thirteens is to remove all of the cards from the table in matching pairs.
Setup
Deal 25 cards onto the table, forming a 5x5 grid. Set the remaining cards to the side, forming a face-down draw pile.
Gameplay
Cards which add up to 13 (e.g. 5 and 8, 2 and J, A and Q, etc.) can be removed from the table when they are next to each other horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Any K can be removed on its own. Any cards removed in this way are discarded.
Card values are as follows:
- A = 1
- Number Cards = Face Value (2 through 10)
- J = 11
- Q = 12
- K = 13
Once a player discards all of the cards that she wants to (there are times when it makes strategic sense not to discard even though it is legally possible to do so), the board is consolidated. Consolidation involves filling in the gaps by moving cards to the left, and up a row if necessary.
The empty spaces on the board are then filled in with cards from the draw pile. NOTE: When the draw pile is empty, consolidation still takes place but without this final step.
The game continues until either all cards have been discarded, or no further legal moves are possible.
Winning
A player wins by discarding all 52 cards.
Variants
Monte Carlo Solitaire is a closely related solitaire card game.
