A Farewell to Kings ©1996-1999 Rob D. Steward
About the Game/History
Back in about 1995, I began trying to figure out if it was possible
to design a solitaire game that was mostly strategic, having very
little to do with how the cards were dealt. A Farewell to Kings
is the result of my pondering. I’m not a statistician, but is
seems the majority of deals can be won.
In 1996, I began programming. I’ve added a little bit here and
there so that it’s finally ready to be “released”. This is a very
enjoyable and unique solitaire game. I’m sure you’ll like it!
-Rob
How to Register
A Farewell to Kings is licensed as a shareware program, which
means you are allowed to try it before you buy it. If you use
this program beyond the two week trial period, you are required
to register your copy. The registration fee is only $5 (US). There
is more information on the software and shareware license at the
end of these instructions.
To register, you can use the ‘Register’ program that came with
the game. The ‘Register’ program accepts credit cards, checks
and cash through mail, email or fax. Processing takes about a
week, after which you’ll receive your registration code. Registering
will stop the register window from opening automatically and will
remove the *Unregistered* window title.
You may also register online at:
https://order.kagi.com/?U8N (SSL Server)
http://order.kagi.com/?U8N (Standard Server)
How to Play
A Farewell to Kings appears to be a totally unique concept of
solitaire. The setup and play are unlike anything else I’ve seen.
You might want to forget everything you knew about solitaire and
get ready for a very interesting challenge. If you get confused,
take a look at the sample games.
The game begins by placing the four kings horizontally in the
center of a playing grid. The rest of the cards are then shuffled
and four cards are drawn. These four cards are your “hand”. The remaining cards will be drawn into the hand as needed:
whenever your hand is empty or whenever all the cards in your
hand are unplayable. (Four unplayable cards is rare, but it’s
one way to lose the game.) When more cards are needed, just click any empty space in the hand to deal more cards.
One at a time, in any order, cards are moved from your hand to
the grid according to two basic rules:
1. The card played must be placed in the grid adjacent horizontally or vertically to at least one other card, and
2. The card played must match all adjacent cards in either suit or rank. (Clubs match clubs, jacks match jacks, etc.)
For example, in the diagram above, the only legal play at position
“1” would be the nine of hearts. (It matches suit with the ace
of hearts and the seven of hearts. It also matches rank with the
nine of diamonds.) Likewise, position “2” would only accept the
three of hearts.
The goal of placing cards in the grid is to arrange them in “books”.
A book is composed of four cards of a single rank arranged in a square (a rectangle, actually). Completing books is the object of the
game.
The diagram above shows a completed book of fives.
Books are removed from the grid in sequence. (I.e. once the four aces are formed into a book, they are removed
from the grid and taken out of play. Then a book of twos may be
removed, etc.)
Books may be completed out of sequence, but those books cannot be removed from the board until all the
lower ranking books have been removed first.
On occasion, the removing of a book from the grid will leave one
card (or possibly more) in the grid non-adjacent to any other
cards. These single, unattached cards are called “orphans”. Any
orphaned cards must be moved immediately another place in the
grid according to the same two rules described above. In very
rare circumstances an orphan (or orphans) will be unplayable,
which results in a loss.
The diagram above shows a queen that has been orphaned.
Removing all twelve books from the grid (ace through queen) wins
the game and the kings are automatically removed from the grid.
(Hence the name of the game.)
Examining the sample games that are included should help clarify
any confusion.
“Secret” Features
There’s a set of very valuable features you only find out about
by reading these instructions. Specifically, if you hold down
Shift, Option or Command while clicking and holding a card in
the hand, the grid will “highlight” to show you some helpful information.
The Shift-click combination will highlight all the legal moves
for that card.
The Option-click combination will highlight cards of the same
rank.
The Command click combination will highlight cards of the same
suit.
Note: these combinations can also be used on orphaned cards!.
Game Menus
There are a few options in Game Options… under the File menu.
The Easy game Difficulty allows you to remove books in any order. (You don’t have to remove
the aces first.) Once you get the hang of playing, the Easy game
is really too easy.
The Deck choice switches between two different sets of card faces. The
standard face looks more like a real deck of cards. Some people
might find the bland deck a little easier to look at.
The Grid Size is pretty much what it sounds like. Choosing a grid smaller than
the normal size increases the difficulty of the game significantly.
Changing the Kings Start In location provides some variety. Starting the kings in the Corners makes a nearly impossible game, but if the first several cards
are just right, you can sometimes win. Random places the four kings randomly. Selecting Custom lets you place the four kings wherever you like before starting
the game.
The Defaults button will reset the options to the “factory” settings. New Game accepts the settings and starts a new game. Cancel takes you back to where you were without changing anything.
Also under the File menu are choices for New Game, Open…, Save…,
and Quit. These behave as you’d expect. (With one note: when quitting,
you will not be asked to save if you have a game in progress.
Why? Because I know sometimes you shouldn’t be playing games and
you need to quit in a hurry!)
Strategy
It seems to me that this game can be won a good majority of the
time. Almost always, when you realize you’ve lost, you also realize
what you could have done differently.
Here’s some of the pitfalls to avoid:
1. Don’t keep your cards close together early in the game. Try
to spread out as far as possible. This gives you more “breathing
room”.
2. Learn how to plan ahead which cards will be orphaned, and when.
In most games, you will have at least two books that are completed
by cards that have been orphaned (sometimes several times). Remember
that cards of lower rank must always be removed first, so attaching
a five to a book of jacks will never result in the five being
orphaned, since the fives must be removed before the jacks.
3. If you draw several cards of the same suit on the first or
second hand, in general it’s good to play the higher card first,
and then the lower card. This is because the lower cards will
need to be completed into books first (which will, in turn, open
up room to complete the books for the cards of higher rank).
4. Be careful how you complete your books. You may be placing
your books nicely and everything might look like it’s falling
into place, but often, reversing the placement of two cards can
be the difference between winning and losing. (See below:)
The diagram above shows a losing situation. The book of fours
cannot be completed because the four of spades (which needs to
go in the empty spot) cannot be placed next to the five of hearts
(it doesn’t match either rank or suit). Depending on which came
first, either the five of hearts and the five of spades should
have been reversed, or the four of hearts should have been played
adjacent to the five of hearts.
SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT and TERMS OF USE
AUTHOR: Rob D. Steward
SOFTWARE: The A Farewell to Kings program, documentation, programming
code, examples, samples, images, and/or any other such related
files associated with A Farewell to Kings.
This License Agreement is a legal agreement between you (either
an individual or a single entity) and AUTHOR for the software
named above. By installing, copying, or otherwise using the SOFTWARE,
you agree to be bound by the terms of this License Agreement.
If you do not agree to the terms of this License Agreement, do
not install or use the SOFTWARE. You may, however, return it for
a full refund.
Shareware
The SOFTWARE is not free and is specifically designated as Shareware.
You are licensed to use this software for evaluation purposes
without charge for a period of two weeks. If you use the SOFTWARE
after the two week evaluation period a registration fee is required.
When the fee is received you will be sent registration information.
Limitations
You may not resell or otherwise transfer for value, rent, lease,
or lend the SOFTWARE.
You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the SOFTWARE.
Export Restrictions
You agree that you do not intend to or will not, directly or indirectly,
export or transmit the SOFTWARE to any country to which such export
or transmission is restricted by any applicable U.S. regulation
or statute.
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but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness
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This License Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State
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