How to Play Accordion
Description
A single row of cards that you're trying to compress into one pile. Each move is simple; each decision about whether to make it is not.
Objective
Compress the entire deck down into a single pile.
Setup
Deal the whole deck face up in a row (spilling into further rows below as needed), one card per pile.
Rules
Move a pile onto the pile immediately to its left, or onto the pile three spots to its left, if the top cards share a suit or a number.
Moving a pile onto another combines them — the moved pile's cards go on top, and everything shifts left to close the gap.
You can only move whole piles, never split one apart, and you can only move things leftward, toward the start of the row.
Winning
Getting the entire deck into a single pile is the true win, but genuinely rare — many players consider finishing with five piles or fewer a solid result.