Keep a route to the next foundation cards.
Beleaguered Castle starts four Ace foundations and places the other 48 face-up cards in eight columns of six. Only a column top moves, down one rank onto any suit or into an empty column. The opening task is to find the Twos and trace how to uncover them.
Last updated: September 2026
Work backward from the next foundation rank
Each suit foundation builds upward from Ace. Find the Twos and the cards above them. A blocker can move onto a column top one rank higher regardless of suit, but that move also covers the destination. Check whether the next needed card lies beneath either source or destination before making the transfer.
A Two of Clubs is under an exposed Seven of Hearts. An Eight of Spades heads another column. Moving the Seven onto the Eight exposes the Two, which can then join the preplaced Ace of Clubs. If the Eight was itself covering a needed card, compare the delayed access there with the immediate Two.
Use an empty column as temporary space
Any single exposed card can enter an empty column in this implementation. This can move a blocker without covering a second column top. The card still needs an eventual route to a foundation or another column if you want the space back. Unlike Baker’s Dozen, empty Castle columns can be refilled.
Rank-only placement creates several possible destinations for one card. Compare what each candidate would bury; choosing the first legal match can trade away the only accessible base for a different low card.
Streets and Alleys: the Aces begin in the rows
Streets and Alleys deals all 52 cards into eight face-up rows. The four suit foundations start empty. The same rank-only tableau placement and any-card empty-row rule apply, but first locate each Ace.
An Ace under a blocker cannot start its foundation yet. Trace a legal route for the blocker, then check whether the newly exposed Ace makes a Two playable. A move to a foundation may free a row top and change which tableau transfers are possible.
Citadel: foundation cards leave during the deal
Citadel starts the Aces on four foundations. As the remaining cards are dealt, any card that immediately extends its suit foundation goes there; other cards enter eight face-up rows. The opening foundation heights and row lengths therefore vary with the seed.
Begin by reading the actual top rank of each foundation rather than assuming every suit still needs a Two. The tableau keeps rank-only single-card transfers and refillable empty rows. Use the shared access question above on whichever ranks remain in the rows after the automatic deal placements.
Where the other Castle branches differ
- Fortress permits same-suit tableau moves one rank upward or downward.
- Tableau Solitaire uses two decks and movable same-suit runs.
- Castle of Indolence adds four deep reserves and suit-independent foundations.