Solitaire · Reviewed 2026-10-18
Monte Carlo card game: players, deck & rules
Remove neighbouring equal-rank pairs from a five-by-five layout, then close gaps and refill.
Version used: Ludoteka Monte Carlo; diagonal adjacency included
- Players
- 1
- Deck
- 52 cards; no jokers
- Learning
- Easy
Remove every card as part of a matching pair.
Need a term explained? Suit, rank, trick, trump and meld.
Deal the layout
- Place 25 cards face up in a five-by-five grid; leave the other 27 as a stock.
Remove pairs and compact
- Remove equal-rank cards only if they touch horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Suits do not matter; a gap between cards does not count as contact.
- When ready to replenish, close gaps in reading order, left to right across rows from top to bottom. Keep the surviving cards’ order. Fill the spaces at the end from the stock.
Continue after the stock ends
You can still close gaps and remove new adjacent pairs when no stock remains. Win by removing all 52 cards. Stop when no further pairing or compaction can produce a move; this version has no separate score.
Worked example
Q♥ at row two, column two and Q♣ at row three, column three touch diagonally and may be removed. Two queens in columns one and three of the same row cannot pair while another cell separates them. After compaction, check their new positions again.
Use one grid consistently
Keep five columns while compressing. Sliding each row separately would change which cards become neighbours. For a learning attempt, place small paper markers at the corners of the grid and move the surviving cards in order before dealing any replacements.
Rule sources and version notes
Rules checked on 2026-10-18. The named version above is the one taught here. Examples and learning suggestions are written for this guide.