Know the next card for each suit.
Birthday uses one deck. All four suit foundations begin with the same base rank chosen by the deal. The other 48 cards form a stock drawn one at a time to a single waste pile. Only its top card can reach a foundation.
Last updated: September 2026
Read the wrapping cycle
Each foundation advances one rank at a time in its own suit and wraps King to Ace. With a base of 5, a foundation needs 6 next, then 7 through King, Ace through 4. The four bases are already placed at the start; there is no tableau or separate reserve in this version.
If the waste top is the 6 of Hearts and the Hearts foundation still shows 5, play it before drawing again. Drawing covers that 6 with a new waste card. If the next card cannot be played, the 6 remains inaccessible until later cards leave or a stock recycle brings it back.
Use the pass limit
When the stock empties, the waste may be turned over to make a new stock while passes remain. This game allows four passes total, including the first. The recycled packet is not shuffled; its order depends on the cards you removed for foundations. On each pass, check the current waste top against its matching suit foundation before drawing again.
The final pass has no further recycle. A card buried beneath an unplayable top at that point cannot be rescued by an imagined reserve move. Compare Birthday with Canfield for another game with a shared, wrapping foundation base but different access tools.