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54 lines
3 KiB
HTML
54 lines
3 KiB
HTML
<h1>Zodiac</h1>
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<h3>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</h3>
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<p>
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Zodiac is a solitaire card game which is played with two decks of playing
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cards shuffled together. It is an old game which first appeared in Lady
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Adelaide Cadogan's book <i>Illustrated Games of Patience</i> is so-named
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probably because of its "globe"-shaped layout.
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<p>
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First, eight cards are deal in a row. They form the cells which make up the
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reserve, or the "Equator". Each reserve cell can only hold one card. Then
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twenty four cards are dealt in a circle surrounding the Equator to form the
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tableau, or the "Zodiac."
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<p>
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The game is divided into two phases: the first phases consists of playing the
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rest of the cards into the Zodiac and the Equator; the second phase is the
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building of the cards into the foundations.
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<p>
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In the first phase of the game, the cards in the Zodiac are built up or down
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by suit; the build can change direction in the same pile. However, the cards
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in Zodiac cannot be touched until the second phase. This means that until the
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second phase starts, the cards in the Zodiac cannot be used to build on each
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other. Also, any card build on a pile in the Zodiac stays there until the
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start of the second phase.
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<p>
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The cards on the Equator are used to build on the cards on the Zodiac. The
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space in the Equator can be filled with an available card from the stock or
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the top card of the wastepile. However, filling a space is not compulsory,
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i.e. a player can leave a space open for as long as the player finds it
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advantageous.
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<p>
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Meanwhile, the stock is dealt one card at a time, and unplayable cards are
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placed on a wastepile, the top card of which is available to be built on a
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pile in the Zodiac or to fill a space on the Equator. Once the stock runs out,
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the player can just pick up the remaining cards in the wastepile and turn it
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face down to make it the new stock. The player can do this as many times as he
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wants as long as there still more cards neither in the Zodiac nor in the
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Equator.
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<p>
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Only when all cards are both in the Zodiac and in the Equator, the second
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phase begins. The cards in the Zodiac and Equator are built straight to the
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foundations. The foundations are built up by suit from Aces to Kings. The game
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is won when all the cards are built on the foundations.
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<p>
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At any point in the game, when it becomes stuck, i.e. the cards in the
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stock/wastepile cannot be built without blocking other cards during the first
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phase, or encountering a block during the second phase, the game is lost.
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<p>
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Obviously the player must have great care and consideration in building the
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cards in the Zodiac in order for the game to be won. Also, the layout of the
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game is large when played with standard-sized playing cards. So, as a
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suggestion, the player can just deal eight cards for the Equator and
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twenty-four cards for the Zodiac to save space.
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<p>
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<i>(Retrieved from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_%28solitaire%29">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_(solitaire)</a>)</i>
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