Rule 1 - Accordion | |
| This is standard Accordion rules with a random deal each time. | |
Rule 2 - Enter Game Number | |
| This rule lets you play the exact same deal every time. You can enter a game number between 0 and 4294967295 and you will be dealt a particular card layout based on that game number. Because you can play the same deal over and over again, this game rule isn't scored. | |
You will probably never win a game of Accordion solitaire unless you learn "The Sweeper" strategy. If you master this strategy then you might win as many as one in three deals but you'll still have to really practice your technique to achieve this level of success. Computer solvers have shown that almost every single deal can be won.
At the start of each game, try to find a rank where all four cards are near the end of the Accordion, for example, the 7's. This doesn't usually happen but try to choose a rank where two or three of them are near the end and the others are not too far from it. These cards are known as the "Sweepers". Ideally, you want as many of these four cards to be the last card dealt of their respective suits. To make life a bit easier, the computer will flash the four most suitable cards to use as sweepers at the start of each game. You don't have to use this rank as your sweepers but they are usually a good choice. You can turn this option off from the Solitaire City Settings screen if you'd like to make the game even more challenging.
Once you've chosen your sweeper rank, the strategy is to try to manipulate them all to the end of the Accordion and keep them there. Once at the end, the four sweepers can be used to "sweep" up the rest of the Accordion. Sometimes you'll have to break them up briefly by jumping one of the front two sweepers ahead but the gap can usually be closed up fairly quickly re-grouping the sweepers together if you plan ahead. Never cover a sweeper with any other card, not even another sweeper as their power is in working as a group of four from the back. Of course, you'll have to break that rule at the very end of the game when you try to get all the cards into a single pile, but until then the rule should not be broken.
Practice various techniques trying to move the four sweepers into position. It's not easy but the more you play, the better you will get at it. You have to look two or three moves ahead and set things up in order to jump cards over the sweepers.