Silver Deck: Suit Garden

About Silver Deck: Suit Garden

Silver Deck: Suit Garden is a solo card game set on the open trunk of a travelling apothecary, parked by a roadside at dusk. Thirty-two cards, Ace to Eight in four suits, lie on a lining of plum velvet: fourteen of them in five racks of two, three, four, three and two, and eighteen more in the seed drawer. A rack's last card is open, and an open card is planted in its suit's jar when it is the next one of that suit: the Ace first, then the Two, up to the Eight.

Four glass bell jars stand on copper dishes on the lid's shelf, one for each suit, each over a small plant. Every card planted makes its plant grow: a sprout, then leaves, a bud, and at the Eight the flower opens in the suit's colour. The jar chimes and lifts a hand's breadth, and a butterfly of the same colour comes out and flutters about it. Three copper clips hold a card aside, and the seed drawer turns over one card at a time onto a pile whose top card can be planted. The pile can be tipped back into the drawer three times.

Clearing a rack turns the worth of the suits over by one, and four cream labels on strings show what each suit is worth now. When every flower is open all four jars rise together, glass chimes run up the scale and the butterflies fly wide loops across the trunk.

Every deal is checked by a solving player before you see it, so it can always be won, and its par shows what a sharp player can reach. Today's challenge is the same deal for everyone, with your best score and your par saved, and a deal can be played again from the start. Tonight's rule changes one thing about the trunk. A deal saves where you leave it, in this browser only; nothing is uploaded.

How to play

Plant an open card by tapping it, or dragging it to its jar, when it is the next card of that suit: the Ace first, then the Two, up to the Eight.
Each card planted makes its plant grow. The Eight opens the flower, lifts the jar and lets a butterfly out. Bring all four flowers into bloom to win.
Hold a card aside under a clip to reach the one beneath it: drag it there, or tap it and then the clip. It can be planted from there later.
Draw from the seed drawer when nothing can be planted. Its cards go onto a pile, and the pile can be turned back into the drawer three times.
Clearing a rack turns the worth of the suits over by one. Press H or the Hint button for a good move, and U or the Undo button to take a move back.

Controls

Tap a card, or drag it to its jar — plant it
Drag a card to a clip, or tap it and then the clip; R — park it
Tap the seed drawer or press E — draw a card
Arrow keys or WASD, then Space or Enter; D-pad or stick, then Ⓐ — plant
Undo button, U or Ⓨ — undo; Hint button, H or LB — a hint
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

How do I grow a plant?

Plant the cards of its suit in order from the Ace up to the Eight. Each card makes the plant grow, and the Eight opens the flower.

What are the clips for?

Each holds one card aside so you can reach the card beneath it. A card on a clip can still be planted whenever it is the next one for its suit.

What do the butterflies do?

A butterfly comes out of each jar when its flower opens and flutters about it. They are a picture of your progress and change nothing in the rules.

Can every deal be won?

With "Winnable deals only" (the default, and always for today's challenge) a solving player has won the deal before you see it. Choose "Any shuffle" in the settings for the luck of the draw.

Does it save my game?

Yes, in this browser only. Your unfinished deal, best scores and badges are never uploaded.