The deal
Forty-nine cards are dealt into seven columns of seven. In the first four columns the bottom three cards are hidden and the top four are face up; the last three columns are dealt entirely face up. The three cards left over wait face down as the reserve — the scorpion’s tail. Counting it up: twelve hidden cards, thirty-seven showing, and three in hand.
The rules
- Build down by suit. The 9 of hearts goes on the 10 of hearts and nowhere else.
- Grab any face-up card and every card above it — the group does not have to be in order.
- The bottom card of the group must be the same suit and exactly one rank lower than the card it lands on.
- Only a King, or a group led by a King, may start an empty column.
- When a full King-to-Ace run of one suit reaches the top of a column, it clears itself off the board automatically.
- Deal the three reserve cards — one each onto the first three columns — only when no other move exists. It happens once.
Nothing may be placed on an Ace. An Ace sitting at the bottom of a long column is a dead end for that whole stack, which is why Aces should be pushed toward the top of a run rather than buried under one.
The twelve hidden cards
Columns one through four hide three cards each, and those twelve cards are the game. Early on, almost every move should be judged by whether it frees one of them — a legal move that flips a hidden card is worth more than a legal move that merely tidies a column. Everything Scorpion asks you to do afterward is easier once the board is fully visible.
Playing the reserve well
The reserve is the only card advantage in the game, and it is spent once. Deal it the moment you are stuck and you lose it; hold it for a spot where one specific card — an Ace that completes a run, a King that fills an empty column — will unlock the board, and it can turn a lost deal around. The temptation is strongest right after a bad start, which is precisely when the reserve is least likely to help.
Scorpion against Spider
| Scorpion | Spider | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Four same-suit K-to-A runs | Eight same-suit K-to-A runs |
| Decks | One | One or two |
| Group moves | Any face-up card with its pile | Ordered same-suit runs only |
| Extra cards | Three-card reserve, once | A stock, dealt row by row |
Scorpion sits between the two games it borrows from: looser than Spider to move, tighter than Yukon to build, and unforgiving of a careless early move. Try it on Scorpion Solitaire, compare the looseness with Yukon Solitaire rules, and find the whole set in How to play solitaire.