The Game

Chinese Patience is a card game for two players, you and the computer. The computer will deal the cards, keep the score, and at the same time, be a very worthy opponent. The winner of any game is the first player to dispose of all his cards. If you play well, the computer may let you win occasionally. Good luck!

Rules

The four Aces are removed from the pack and placed face-upwards to form piles 1-4. The remaining cards are shuffled, then the top four (random) cards are placed face-upwards to form piles 5-8. The remaining 44 cards are dealt so that each player receives a face down deck of 22 cards.

When it is your turn, you may twist the top card from your deck onto your discard pile (0).

The idea of the game is to get rid of all your cards, which may be progressively transferred from the top of your discard pile to any other pile according to certain Sequence Rules (shown below). Also, you may transfer cards from the tops of piles 5-8 to either piles 1-4 or pile 9. You can also, if the sequence rules are preserved, sometimes move a complete pile (containing 2 or more cards) to the end of another pile; thereby creating a space for the top card of your discard pile.

You may only twist a second card (during the same turn) after you have moved the first 'twisted' card. Play continues in this fashion until no further move is possible. Play then reverts to your opponent. (Press Z)

You will find that the general pattern of the game involves a progressive shifting of cards from their "temporary" positions in piles 5-8 to their "final' resting places in piles 1-4. The first player to get rid of all his cards wins the game.

Sequence Rules

1. Piles 1-4 Must be in ascending order with all cards being of the same suit (e.g. 2 of Clubs on Ace of Clubs etc.)
2. Piles 5-8 Must be in descending order in suits of alternate colours (e.g. 6 of Diamonds on 7 of Spades etc.).
3. Pile 9. This is your opponent's discard pile. You may place on it a card (of the same suit) that is immediately above or immediately below the card showing (e.g. if the 9 of Clubs is showing, you can discard either the 8 of 10 of Clubs from your own pile or from one of the piles 5-8).
    
   Additionally, the following general rules operate:
4. You may only add to piles 1-4: a card, once placed on one of these piles, may not subsequently be removed.
5. You may either add to or remove from the tops of piles 5-8. Genrally, a card removed from one of these piles will be placed on piles 1-4 or 9.
6. You cannot remove a card from your opponent's discard pile (9). Anyway, this would help him to win.
7. You can move a complete pile (5-8) to the end of another pile (5-8) as long as the result preserves the sequence rule (viz. alternate colours in descending order). You can then move to top card from your discard pile into the space created. In this way you will be able to twist again.

Instructions

When loading is completed, you should proceed as prompted on the screen.

Player's turn: the words "your turn" will appear at the top of the screen and a menu of choices at the bottom. For your first turn only, you must twist (T) before you can consider anything else. Subsequently, the menu choices are:

1. Move (M) the top card of a pile.
2. Twist (T) a card.
3. Finish your turn (when you can do nothing else) by pressing Z.

If you choose option (i) you will have to specify the two piles involved: you do this simply by pressing the pile numbers. For example, pressing the sequence of keys M...0...5 will move the top card from pile 0 to pile 5. Alternatively, you may wish to move a complete pile, in which case the sequence M...P (pile)...8...6 would move the complete pile 8 to the end of pile 6.

Computer's turn: during the computer's turn the display will indicate "it's my turn". You can just sit back and watch as no action is necessary. The computer will pas control back to you when it can no longer move.

At the end of the game, the winner will score points equal to the number of cards left in the loser's hand. At that time you can choose to play another single game (by pressing S) or alternatively, keep a record of the running total scores in a series of games (by pressing N).

Chinese Patience is a demanding game which requires careful attention to detail during play. If you enjoy Patience games, you will find your Spectrum to be a worthy opponent. Good luck!

Game Controls

T - Twist, Z - Finish your turn, M - Move (top card), M/P - Move pile; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - Specify pile number, X - Return to menu

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Note: Remove joystick interface before loading.