The Imperiia Project

Try your hand at a 19th century game of patience!


The game of patience has a history dating back to the 18th century. It became wildly popular in the 19th, with dozens - if not hundreds - of variations proliferating across Europe. No matter when or where it is played, patience involves the sorting of cards from a shuffled deck - sometimes by suit, sometimes by value, and sometimes according to some other organizing principle.

In other words, it is a game that challenges the player to create order from disorder. 

Ready to play?

The bad news is that you need to read Russian. The good news is that if you win, you will have learned a crucial - and often overlooked - truth about how Russian space was understood.
  1. Open the gameboard.
  2. Click any image for a better view. Focus on the card layout to identify the key to sorting.
  3. Rearrange the cards by dragging them into place.
  4. Once they are in order, record the message hidden in the cards.
  5. In the spirit of sharing, we highly recommend that you translate the message into English and impress your friends with your hard-won knowledge.
  6. Let us know about your accomplishment! Reach out on Twitter @ImperiiaProject

Ready for the solution?

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