One-deck card game
Baker's Dozen Solitaire
Baker's Dozen is a one-deck solitaire game with thirteen face-up columns. Every card is visible from the deal, but only the top card of each column can move, so the puzzle is about clearing buried aces and managing blocked columns.
How to Play
Start by reading the full thirteen-column layout. Move available top cards to the foundations whenever they continue a suit, and move top tableau cards onto the next higher rank when that helps uncover lower cards. There is no stock and no redeal, so every move comes from the face-up tableau.
- Deal all 52 cards into 13 columns of 4 cards, all face-up.
- Before play starts, move any king above the bottom of its column to the bottom of that same column.
- Move exposed aces to start the four foundations, then build each foundation upward by suit.
- Move only the top card of a tableau column. Tableau cards build down by rank regardless of suit.
- Leave empty columns empty. Standard Baker's Dozen does not allow a cleared space to be refilled.
- Win by moving all 52 cards to the four foundations.
Objective
Build all four foundations from ace to king by suit. Because all cards are visible, the challenge is not finding hidden cards; it is choosing the order that frees aces, twos, and other low foundation cards before they are trapped under dead-end stacks.
Rules
Baker's Dozen uses one deck, thirteen tableau columns, and four foundations. Only top cards are playable. Tableau cards build downward by rank regardless of suit, foundations build upward by suit, and empty columns cannot be filled after they are cleared.
| Deck | One standard 52-card deck |
|---|---|
| Tableau | 13 columns of 4 cards, all face-up |
| Foundations | Build up by suit from ace to king |
| Tableau builds | Build down by rank, regardless of suit |
| Empty columns | Cannot be refilled |
| Win condition | Move all cards to the four foundations |
Strategy
- Free aces early, especially when an ace is buried under a short chain.
- Avoid clearing a column unless the move releases a foundation card or an important blocker.
- Move kings carefully. They start low in the columns and can easily pin useful cards above them.
- Prefer moves that expose multiple future foundation plays instead of making a single tidy descending stack.
Why Play This Variant?
Baker's Dozen sits between pure planning games like Freecell and compact tableau builders like Fan solitaire. There is no stock, no redeal, and no hidden information. A good result comes from reading the full layout and choosing which blockers to remove first.
Related Games
- Good Measure keeps the Baker's Dozen shape but starts two aces on foundations.
- Beleaguered Castle is another all-cards-visible game with strict single-card movement.
- Freecell adds temporary storage cells for a more flexible open-card puzzle.