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BestSolitaireGames

Category

Foundation-Building Games

Games centered on building up suit sequences in dedicated foundation piles.

61 games in this category.

  • Accordion

    Compress an entire single-row deal down to as few piles as possible — one of the hardest games to actually win.

    • One deck
    • 10 min
    • Expert

  • Agnes

    A triangular tableau packed by matching colour, with the twenty-ninth card deciding where every foundation starts.

    • One deck
    • 16 min
    • Hard

  • Baker's Dozen

    Thirteen short columns with every King sunk to the bottom of its own, and no way to refill a column once cleared.

    • One deck
    • 14 min
    • Intermediate

  • Baker's Game

    The predecessor to FreeCell — identical rules, except tableau sequences must build by suit rather than alternating color.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Intermediate

  • Beleaguered Castle

    All four Aces start face-up as foundations, surrounded by eight columns you must whittle down with no redeals.

    • One deck
    • 12 min
    • Intermediate

  • Big Ben

    A two-deck expansion of the clock-face foundation layout with a fuller tableau.

    • 2 decks
    • 15 min
    • Intermediate

  • Bisley

    The Aces build up and the Kings build down, meeting somewhere in the middle across thirteen open columns.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Hard

  • Bristol

    Eight fans of three with every King sunk to the bottom, built freely up and down with suit ignored entirely.

    • One deck
    • 8 min
    • Hard

  • British Square

    A four-by-four grid of piles, each committed to one direction, feeding foundations that climb to King and come back down.

    • 2 decks
    • 16 min
    • Intermediate

  • Calculation

    Four foundations each build by a different fixed interval at once, so every card has exactly one place it belongs.

    • One deck
    • 12 min
    • Intermediate

  • Canfield

    Foundations start on a random rank instead of Aces, and a 13-card reserve pile adds real strategic pressure.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Hard

  • Canister

    Eight open piles built down with suit ignored, and any card or ordered group may take a space.

    • One deck
    • 13 min
    • Intermediate

  • Colorado

    Twenty waste piles feeding eight foundations that climb from the Aces and descend from the Kings.

    • 2 decks
    • 15 min
    • Easy

  • Crazy Quilt

    A woven 8x8 quilt where only cards with a short edge free can be played, to Aces building up and Kings building down.

    • 2 decks
    • 18 min
    • Hard

  • Cruel

    Twelve piles of four that you may gather and redeal in order as often as you like — without ever shuffling them.

    • One deck
    • 18 min
    • Expert

  • Diplomat

    Eight short rows of four, built down with suit ignored, and any card may take a space that opens up.

    • 2 decks
    • 16 min
    • Easy

  • Double Klondike

    Klondike scaled up to two decks and nine tableau columns for a longer, more complex game.

    • 2 decks
    • 18 min
    • Intermediate

  • Easthaven

    A Westcliff variant that deals a fresh row across every column when you stall, and admits only Kings to a space.

    • One deck
    • 10 min
    • Intermediate

  • Eight Off

    A roomier FreeCell cousin with eight free cells and stricter suit-based tableau building.

    • One deck
    • 16 min
    • Intermediate

  • Flower Garden

    Six overlapping "garden beds" of cards sit around a central reserve you must unpack in the right order.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Hard

  • Fortress

    A Castle-family game with ten short rows you may build up or down by suit — but never round the corner.

    • One deck
    • 12 min
    • Hard

  • Forty Thieves

    Build strict same-suit sequences across ten columns dealt from two decks — one of the toughest classic patience games.

    • 2 decks
    • 25 min
    • Hard

  • Four Corners

    Only the cornerstone piles may feed any foundation — every other pile is tied to the one in its own row.

    • 2 decks
    • 18 min
    • Hard

  • FreeCell

    Nearly every deal is winnable with the right plan — four free cells give just enough room to maneuver every card into place.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Intermediate

  • Gaps

    Remove all four Aces, then fill the gaps they leave with the next-higher card of the same suit.

    • One deck
    • 12 min
    • Hard

  • Gate

    Eight tableau piles between two five-card gateposts that refill any space you open.

    • One deck
    • 10 min
    • Intermediate

  • Harp

    A nine-column two-deck Klondike with three redeals, but only one card at a time unless a King leads the group.

    • 2 decks
    • 20 min
    • Intermediate

  • House on the Hill

    Thirty-six tiny piles of three feeding eight foundations that climb from Aces and descend from Kings.

    • 2 decks
    • 18 min
    • Intermediate

  • King Albert

    Nine columns of descending length plus a seven-card Belgian Reserve, every card of which is always available.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Intermediate

  • Klondike

    The best-known solitaire game: build tableau columns down in alternating colors and move cards up to four suit foundations.

    • One deck
    • 10 min
    • Beginner

  • Klondike (Draw Three)

    The stricter Klondike variant: the stock deals three cards at a time, and only the top card is playable.

    • One deck
    • 12 min
    • Intermediate

  • La Belle Lucie

    The entire deck is dealt into fans of three cards, with up to two redeals allowed to untangle what's left.

    • One deck
    • 10 min
    • Hard

  • Little Spider

    Eight piles in two rows, with two Aces built up and two Kings built down — unrelated to Spider despite the name.

    • One deck
    • 10 min
    • Intermediate

  • Martha

    The Aces start as foundations and twelve short columns alternate face-down and face-up cards.

    • One deck
    • 14 min
    • Intermediate

  • Maze

    Pull the Kings out and slide the remaining 48 cards around six gaps until every suit runs Ace to Queen.

    • One deck
    • 14 min
    • Hard

  • Miss Milligan

    Eight columns fed eight cards at a time, with one late privilege: you may set a card aside and bring it back.

    • 2 decks
    • 22 min
    • Expert

  • Nestor

    Remove pairs of matching rank from across the tableau columns until none remain.

    • One deck
    • 10 min
    • Intermediate

  • Odessa

    Russian Solitaire dealt differently: seven piles of six, half of them face down, built strictly down in suit.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Hard

  • Osmosis

    Each foundation row only accepts a rank that already appears in the row above it, so the order cards arrive in decides the game.

    • One deck
    • 12 min
    • Intermediate

  • Pas Seul

    Just six piles built down in alternating colours, with any card free to take a space that opens.

    • One deck
    • 9 min
    • Easy

  • Penguin

    A seven-cell FreeCell relative where the first card dealt sets the starting rank for every foundation.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Hard

  • Puss in the Corner

    Four Aces in the middle, four waste piles in the corners, and foundations that build up by colour rather than suit.

    • One deck
    • 8 min
    • Easy

  • Royal Cotillion

    Eight foundations built up by suit in twos, so each one skips every other rank on its way round.

    • 2 decks
    • 20 min
    • Hard

  • Russian Solitaire

    A stricter Yukon variant where tableau sequences must build by suit instead of alternating color.

    • One deck
    • 20 min
    • Expert

  • Scorpion

    Move any card onto any other regardless of sequence, then untangle same-suit runs across seven columns.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Hard

  • Seahaven Towers

    A FreeCell relative played with ten tableau columns and only two free cells.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Intermediate

  • Shamrocks

    Eighteen fans capped at three cards each, built up or down with suit ignored — and no redeal to save you.

    • One deck
    • 10 min
    • Hard

  • Simple Simon

    A single-deck relative of Spider — build same-suit runs across a pyramid-shaped tableau.

    • One deck
    • 12 min
    • Intermediate

  • Spider

    Build same-suit sequences from King to Ace across ten tableau columns using two full decks and four suits.

    • 2 decks
    • 20 min
    • Intermediate

  • Spider (One Suit)

    The easiest Spider variant, played with a single suit repeated across both decks.

    • 2 decks
    • One suit
    • 12 min
    • Easy

  • Spider (Two Suit)

    A more forgiving Spider variant played with only two suits instead of all four.

    • 2 decks
    • Two suits
    • 16 min
    • Intermediate

  • Spiderette

    A single-deck take on Spider, played across seven tableau columns instead of ten.

    • One deck
    • 14 min
    • Intermediate

  • Streets and Alleys

    Beleaguered Castle without the head start — the four Aces are buried in the tableau and you have to dig them out.

    • One deck
    • 12 min
    • Hard

  • Sudden Death

    Two stripped decks of high cards only, with foundations climbing from Nine to Ace and back down again.

    • 2 decks
    • 12 min
    • Easy

  • Sultan

    Also called Emperor of Germany — an ornate two-deck game built around eight Queen and King foundations.

    • 2 decks
    • 20 min
    • Hard

  • Terrace

    You pick which rank the foundations start on, then build them up in alternating colours from an eleven-card terrace.

    • 2 decks
    • 18 min
    • Intermediate

  • Thumb and Pouch

    A more forgiving Klondike where cards build down onto any suit except their own, and any card can fill a space.

    • One deck
    • 11 min
    • Easy

  • Usk

    Ten open piles built down in alternating colours, with a single redeal that restacks them in a fixed order.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Hard

  • Westcliff

    Three rows of seven and one pass through the stock, but any card at all may take an empty column.

    • One deck
    • 9 min
    • Intermediate

  • Whitehead

    A Klondike variant dealt entirely face-up, where tableau sequences build by same color instead of alternating color.

    • One deck
    • 10 min
    • Beginner

  • Yukon

    No stock at all, and any face-up card moves together with everything piled on top of it, however disordered.

    • One deck
    • 15 min
    • Intermediate

Frequently asked questions

What is foundation-building games?
Games centered on building up suit sequences in dedicated foundation piles.

Games in Foundation-Building Games

  • Accordion

    Compress an entire single-row deal down to as few piles as possible — one of the hardest games to actually win.

  • Agnes

    A triangular tableau packed by matching colour, with the twenty-ninth card deciding where every foundation starts.

  • Baker's Dozen

    Thirteen short columns with every King sunk to the bottom of its own, and no way to refill a column once cleared.

  • Baker's Game

    The predecessor to FreeCell — identical rules, except tableau sequences must build by suit rather than alternating color.

  • Beleaguered Castle

    All four Aces start face-up as foundations, surrounded by eight columns you must whittle down with no redeals.

  • Big Ben

    A two-deck expansion of the clock-face foundation layout with a fuller tableau.

  • Bisley

    The Aces build up and the Kings build down, meeting somewhere in the middle across thirteen open columns.

  • Bristol

    Eight fans of three with every King sunk to the bottom, built freely up and down with suit ignored entirely.

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