Ticitaire
Difficulty: Medium
Players: 1 (Not including the person looking over your shoulder telling you what to move)
Age: 10+
Time: 15–30 minutes
Scoring: No
Style: Solitaire-style puzzle game
Before You Play
Ticitaire is inspired by the classic card game Solitaire, also known as Patience.
This game uses both major TIC card relationships:
Commonness
- Tic: Two cards have two properties in common.
Sequences
- Duo: Two properties change by exactly one increment.
- Tripo: All three properties change by exactly one increment.
Each TIC property has an ordered progression:
Numbers
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
Shapes
circle – crescent – triangle – square – star
Colours
violet – cyan – yellow – orange – red
For more examples, refer to the TIC Card Principles page or the back of any TIC card.
Objective
Win by:
- uncovering all face-down cards in the 7 main columns, and
- successfully bringing every card from the stock into play.
Cards are brought into play by building:
- Tic columns in the main tableau, and
- Duo and Tripo sequences in the 2 sequence piles above the tableau.
Setup
Create 7 piles of face-down cards in a row.
Place 7 face-down cards in each pile.
Then place 1 face-up card on top of each pile.
This creates 7 tableau columns, each starting with one exposed face-up card.
Keep all remaining cards face-down in a separate pile. This is the stock.
During the game, you may also create 2 sequence piles above the 7 tableau columns:
- one sequence pile starts to build upward from low-value properties,
- one sequence pile starts to build downward from high-value properties.
Tableau Columns
The 7 main columns are built using Tics.
The exposed playable card is the card at the bottom of a face-up column.
Moving an Individual Card
Any isolated face-up card may be placed below the exposed card of another column if the two cards Tic.
Once an individual card has been added to a column, it cannot later be removed by itself and moved to another tableau column.
Moving a Whole Face-Up Column
An entire connected face-up column may be moved together.
To move the whole column, the top card of the moving group must Tic with the exposed bottom card of the destination column.
The connected cards stay together and keep their existing order.
You may not break apart a built face-up column in order to move only part of it to another tableau column.
Uncovering Buried Cards
Whenever moving cards exposes a face-down card in one of the 7 tableau piles, turn that card face-up.
The newly exposed card is now available for play.
Uncovering the buried cards is one of the main goals of the game.
Sequence Piles
You may create 2 sequence piles above the tableau.
One is the low sequence pile.
The other is the high sequence pile.
Starting the Low Sequence Pile
The low sequence pile must begin with a card containing at least 2 lowest-value properties.
The lowest values are:
- number 1
- circle
- violet
Examples of valid starting cards include:
- 1-circle-any colour
- 1-any shape-violet
- any number-circle-violet
The third property may be any value.
Starting the High Sequence Pile
The high sequence pile must begin with a card containing at least 2 highest-value properties.
The highest values are:
- number 5
- star
- red
Examples of valid starting cards include:
- 5-star-any colour
- 5-any shape-red
- any number-star-red
The third property may be any value.
Building the Sequence Piles
Once a sequence pile has been started, you may add a card if it makes a Duo or Tripo with the top card of that pile.
For a Duo, exactly two properties must change by one increment.
For a Tripo, all three properties must change by one increment.
The properties do not have to move in the same direction.
For example, one property may increase while another decreases.
If the top card is:
5-triangle-red
then:
4-square-red
makes a Duo because:
- number changes 5 → 4 by one increment, and
- shape changes triangle → square by one increment.
The colour remains the same.
The two sequence piles differ only in how they are started:
- the low sequence pile begins with a card containing at least two lowest-value properties;
- the high sequence pile begins with a card containing at least two highest-value properties.
After a sequence pile has been started, either pile may continue using any valid Duo or Tripo, with each sequencing property moving one increment higher or lower as needed.
Cards That May Move to a Sequence Pile
You may move either:
- an isolated face-up card, or
- the exposed card at the bottom of a tableau column
onto a sequence pile if it makes a valid Duo or Tripo.
Moving Cards Back from a Sequence Pile
The top card of either sequence pile may be moved back down into the tableau if it can be placed onto an exposed column card and make a Tic.
This allows cards to move back and forth between the sequence piles and tableau.
Using these temporary movements can help:
- uncover buried cards,
- reorganize available plays,
- or create space for cards coming from the stock.
Empty Tableau Columns
If one of the 7 tableau columns becomes completely empty, the space may only be filled by:
- an individual card with the number 5, or
- an entire movable face-up column whose top card has the number 5.
No other card may be used to start an empty tableau column.
Using the Stock
When you are stuck, or whenever you want to create new options, turn over the top card of the stock.
Place it face-up into a waste pile.
Only the top card of the waste pile is available for play.
That card may be moved:
- into a tableau column if it makes a Tic,
- onto one of the sequence piles if it makes a valid Duo or Tripo,
If the card cannot be played, leave it on the waste pile and turn over another stock card when you are ready.
The newly turned card becomes the new playable top card of the waste pile.
Recycling the Stock
When the stock runs out, turn the waste pile face-down to form a new stock.
Do not shuffle the cards.
You may continue cycling through the stock as needed.
Winning
You win when:
- all face-down cards in the 7 tableau columns have been uncovered, and
- every card from the stock has been successfully brought into play.
All cards should then be somewhere in the tableau or in one of the two sequence piles.
Strategy Tips
Try not to build Tic columns too quickly without considering future movement. Once an individual card becomes part of a tableau column, it cannot later be moved independently to another column.
The sequence piles are not just destinations. They can also be used temporarily to free cards, uncover buried cards, and create new Tic possibilities.
Pay close attention to number 5 cards. Since only a 5 can begin an empty tableau column, using all of them too early may limit your options later.
Likewise, think carefully before placing cards permanently into long Tic columns. A move that looks useful now may block access to an important card later.
