Emperor is a patience game for one player. Get all the cards to their foundation pile to win this game!
Find the video tutorial and written explanation for how to play emperor below.
Emperor Tutorial
Needed
Two 52 card decks
Setup
Shuffle the two decks together.
Layout a row of ten cards face down. Add two rows of face down cards on top of the first row. The fourth row of cards are placed face up on the current stacks.
The remaining deck is kept below the row layout.
Objective
The object of the game is to move all cards into foundation piles. There will be eight foundation piles above the row layout. Each foundation pile starts with an ace and climbs up to a king. Each pile has to be in the same suit.
Game Play
During the game, play cards can move around in three ways. A card can be moved to a foundation pile.
Cards can be stacked within the layout rows if the card being moved is one rank higher and an opposite color suit of the card being stacked on. For example, the red 9 is placed on the black 8.
The top card of the deck is flipped up and forms a waste pile. A player will go through the deck one card at a time. A card that is flipped up from the deck can be played into the layout, or a foundation pile when possible.
If a face down card in the layout becomes open (no cards on top of it), it is flipped up.
A player will continue to move cards to foundation piles, move cards within the layout, or move cards from the deck.
Win / Lose
If a player is able to move all the cards into the foundation piles, the game is won.
If a player gets stuck with no moves available, the game is lost.
Rules
If an open space becomes available within the layout, any card can fill the open space.
Only one card can be moved at a time.
The top card of the waste pile can always be moved if possible.
For the most challenging game play, only allow one turn through the deck. For an easier game play, turn the waste pile back into your deck when the deck runs out.