Baker’s Dozen Solitaire

Baker’s Dozen is an open game. All 52 cards are dealt face up at the start, there is no stock to draw from, and nothing is left to luck once the cards are on the table. What you see is what you have to work with. It is a quiet, thoughtful game that rewards looking a few moves ahead, and a good choice if you like FreeCell but want something with a different feel.

Play it here free in your browser, on a computer or a phone, with no download and no sign-up. You get unlimited undo, hints, a timer, a move counter and saved statistics.

How to Play Baker’s Dozen

Setup. The deck is dealt into thirteen columns of four cards, all face up. Then every King is moved to the bottom of its column, under the other three cards. If a column holds two Kings, both go to the bottom in the order they were dealt. On a phone the thirteen columns are shown in two rows, seven on top and six below; on a wider screen they sit in a single row.

Goal. Build four foundations up by suit, from Ace to King. When all 52 cards are on the foundations, you win.

Moves.

• Only the top card of each column can be moved, one card at a time.
• On the columns, build down by one rank regardless of suit. Any 8 can go on any 9.
• Foundations start with an Ace and build up in the same suit.
• An empty column can never be filled again. Clearing one does not give you a parking space.
• Cards go up to the foundations on their own once no card on the table could still need them: Aces and 2s always, and other cards when every card one rank lower is already up. You can always send a card up yourself.

Controls. Drag a card, or tap it to send it to the best legal spot. If you turn tap-to-move off in Settings, a double-tap sends a card to a foundation. Undo and Redo are unlimited, Restart replays the same deal, and Hint looks a few moves ahead for a move that makes real progress (or tells you it found none). Shortcuts: Ctrl or Cmd+Z to undo, Ctrl+Y to redo, H for a hint, N for a new game.

The toolbar shows the timer, move counter and deal number. Add ?deal=NUMBER to the page address to replay a deal. Your statistics and any unfinished game are saved in this browser.

Baker’s Dozen Strategy

1. Find the Aces before you touch anything. Count how many cards sit on top of each Ace. The Ace with one card above it is free in a move or two; the one buried at the bottom of a column is your real problem, and the whole game is often about reaching it.
2. Do not bury a low card you will need soon. Every card you place on a column covers the card below it. Dropping a 9 on a 10 that sits on top of a 2 locks that 2 away until the 9 can move again. Before each build, check what it covers.
3. Long stacks are hard to undo. Since cards move one at a time and there are no free cells, a neat run of five cards is stuck where it is until its top card can go to a foundation. Build long runs on top of Kings, which never need to move, rather than on top of low cards.
4. Use the fact that suit does not matter. When a 7 needs a home, you usually have four 8s to choose from. Pick the 8 whose column holds nothing you need. The other 8s stay free for later.
5. An empty column is a dead end, not a prize. Clearing a column feels like progress in most games. Here it only means one fewer place to build on. Empty a column when it is the natural result of playing cards to the foundations, not as a goal.
6. Work suit by suit when you can. Getting one suit up to 5 or 6 tends to free more cards than spreading progress across all four, because each card that goes up uncovers the one beneath it.
7. Undo is a planning tool. With every card visible, you can test a line of four or five moves, see where it ends, and back up if it stalls. Many players play Baker’s Dozen this way, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Where Baker’s Dozen Comes From

Baker’s Dozen is a long-established patience game found in most collections of solitaire rules. It belongs to a small family of open games where cards build down regardless of suit. Its close relatives change one rule each: Spanish Patience lets you fill an empty column with any card, and Portuguese Solitaire lets you put a King in one. If you enjoy this kind of puzzle, try Beleaguered Castle, which also deals everything face up but gives you empty rows to work with, or Eight Off, which adds eight free cells and same-suit building.

Baker’s Dozen FAQ