FreeCell & open packers · The Observatory
All 52 cards are dealt face-up into 13 columns of 4. Before play begins, any Kings are automatically sunk to the bottom of their column. Only the top card of each column may move — onto a card one rank higher (suit and color don't matter) or to the foundations. Empty columns cannot be refilled. Build all four foundations from Ace to King to win.
Click a top card to select it, then click a destination to move it.
Baker’s Dozen is a fully open solitaire game in the same family as Beleaguered Castle and FreeCell — all cards visible from move one, no stock, no hidden information. The defining feature is a rule applied during the deal: any Kings found in the tableau are automatically moved to the bottom of their column. This single adjustment ensures Kings cannot sit above another card in their column, though other blockers can still make Aces and low cards difficult to access.
The game is named for the thirteen columns of four cards each (4 × 13 = 52).
The 52-card deck is dealt into thirteen columns of four face-up cards each. Before play begins, any Kings in the tableau are moved to the bottom of their respective column. Only the top card of each column is available to play.
A top card moves to another column if the destination top card is exactly one rank higher — suit is irrelevant. A card moves to the foundation if it continues its suit sequence (Aces go up, then 2s, 3s… Kings). Empty columns cannot be refilled. There is no stock and no redeal. Win when all 52 cards reach the four foundations.
Beleaguered Castle pre-places all four Aces on foundations before dealing, removing them from the tableau entirely. Baker’s Dozen deals all 52 cards including Aces, and moves Kings to column bottoms instead. Both build down by rank regardless of suit, but Beleaguered Castle allows a single card to refill an empty column; Baker’s Dozen does not.
Baker’s Dozen requires a route to buried Aces as well as their successor cards. An emptied column also removes a rank base permanently, so check which lower cards still need it before clearing the last card.
Locate all Aces before making any move. Trace which cards block each Ace and determine whether those blockers have valid destinations. Because empty columns cannot be refilled, clearing a column can remove a useful rank base permanently.
Rank-only building (any suit on any suit one rank higher) gives more legal destinations per card than Klondike, but the lack of color alternation means same-suit chains form inadvertently, creating foundation ordering dependencies you must track.
Baker’s Dozen is part of The Observatory · FreeCell & open packers.
