Selected profile: single-card moves, no return from foundations and no redeal.

← On a small screen, scroll the diagram horizontally. →

Opening layout: four columns of seven and four of six. Four free cells and four foundations start empty; no stock.
Opening layout: four columns of seven and four of six. Four free cells and four foundations start empty; no stock.

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Aim and equipment

Use 1 player and 52 cards without jokers. Ace is low, followed by 2–10, J, Q, K. Complete 4 foundations, each in one suit from ace to king.

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Setup and deal

Shuffle and deal all 52 face up cyclically into 8 columns: the first 4 receive 7 each and the other 4 receive 6 each. Leave 4 empty single-card cells and 4 foundation spaces above. Only the uncovered end of a column is available. There is no stock.

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Legal actions

Move one available card onto a card exactly 1 rank higher in the same suit: 7♥ onto 8♥, never 8♣. An empty column accepts any available card. A free cell holds exactly one column card; send it back under the normal tableau rule or onto its foundation. Never build in a cell. Foundations ascend A to K by suit without gaps or returns. Moving a run requires a complete sequence of legal individual moves through spare spaces; there is no unrestricted packet move.

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Scoring

There are no suit, speed or sequence bonuses. You may record the number of foundation cards to compare attempts, but victory requires all 52. This optional progress record is not another winning condition.

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Ending the game

Win when all 4 foundations end in kings and no cards remain elsewhere. With no legal continuation, the puzzle is unsolved; no stock or redeal rescues it. Repeating moves is not victory. For another attempt gather and shuffle the whole pack. A one-player game has no shared-player tie.

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Context and variants

This patience is closely related to FreeCell, but same-suit building makes a different puzzle. Its name associates it with Baker; the selected rules do not prove an exact invention date. Alternating-colour FreeCell and kings-only empty-column variants are outside this profile.

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Worked example

One column ends in 7♥, another in 8♥. Place 7♥ on 8♥ to free the next card in its old column. The same seven cannot go on 8♣. If 2♦ was underneath, it can join an already exposed A♦ foundation. A free cell could instead park the seven, but would occupy one of the 4 spaces.

← On a small screen, scroll the diagram horizontally. →

Before moving. Row fragment: 2♦, 7♥. Row fragment: 8♥. The rightmost card is each fragment’s available end. The seven can move onto the eight. Seven moved. Row fragment: 2♦. Row fragment: 8♥, 7♥. 2♦ is free. It may next move onto its foundation’s A♦ if that ace is already there. Move the seven, then send the uncovered two to its foundation.
Move the seven, then send the uncovered two to its foundation.

Common questions

May I move a whole run?+

Only through a sequence of legal individual moves.

Are empty spaces kings-only?+

No, an empty row accepts any available card.

Is there a draw or redeal?+

No, all 52 cards are already in the layout.