Yo-yo: an original card game

Yo-yo is a multi-player version of my patience game Black Hole, which in turn was derived from single-pile classics like ‘Golf’ and ‘One Foundation’. In some ways it is better for three than for two, as the same player is not always playing in the same direction.

I must mention that games of this sort were originally called ‘patience’, though in some countries it has been changed to ‘solitaire’, or some version thereof. But it is patently ridiculous to call a multi-player game a solitaire, and in any case there are solitaire games which are not actually patiences.

Cards and deal: Set the Ace of spades in the middle of the board as the base-card. Deal all the other cards face up in seventeen fans of three in an orbit around it.
Object: To win cards by successfully building them to the base pile. Build by taking any of the 17 exposed cards of a fan to a central pile based on the Ace. Building may be done in ascending or descending sequence regardless of suit, going up or down ad lib and changing direction as often as necessary. Ranking is continuous between Ace and King. For example, in this illustration you could start by playing diamond 2, heart 3, diamond 4, etc, or heart K, diamond Q, after which you will be stuck as no Jack is available.
Play: Non-dealer plays first, announcing whether they will play upwards or downwards. If upwards, the next cards must be 2-3-4 etc; if downwards, they must be K-Q-J etc. That player continues for as long as possible. When stuck, the second player continues by starting a new central pile with the next card in sequence but in the opposite direction. Thus, if the first player began A-2-3-4 and then stuck, the second would continue by playing a Three to the centre and continuing downwards with 2-A-K etc. Whenever a player gets stuck, they win all the cards of the pile they last played to and keep them for scoring later.

If two players get stuck (because no continuation card is available) the next in turn may enable a continuation by transferring the top card of a fan to the bottom so as to release a playable card, and then continue play but without winning the current pile.
Ending and scoring: The game ends when all 52 cards have been won. Whoever played the last card wins the last pile, and everybody scores the number of cards they have won.