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Canfield family · The Heights

Selective Canfield

Choose your own foundation base rank from five dealt cards before play begins. Same wrapping foundations and alternating-color tableau as Canfield.

Decks
1
Pace
Medium
Difficulty
Medium
Family
Canfield family

Choose a card from the selection to set the base rank for foundations.

Choose a card to set the foundation base rank. That card goes to its foundation; the other 4 deal to the tableau.

Read the opening deal

One card sets the foundation base rank. Four cards start the tableau, and only the top of the thirteen-card reserve is visible. The remaining cards are in the stock.

The base-rank foundation

Canfield’s defining feature: foundations do not start on Aces. The first card dealt sets the base rank for all four suits. If that card is a 7, all four foundations build 7→8→9→10→J→Q→K→A→2→3→4→5→6. The three remaining base-rank cards can start their suit foundations when accessible. Check which base-rank cards are already exposed before drawing.

Read the full Canfield strategy guide →

Reserve and wraparound tableau

The 13-card reserve is Canfield’s other core structure. Only the top card is available at any time; the other twelve are face-down until uncovered. Tableau sequences wrap around — Ace goes on 2, King on Ace — and alternate colors.

Canfield variants

The seven board variants are available from the selector above. A brief summary of what each changes:

  • Selective Canfield — choose your base rank before play from 5 dealt options
  • Superior Canfield — all 13 reserve cards visible; otherwise identical to standard
  • Thirteen Up — fixed base rank 2; same-suit tableau; draw one; max 2 redeals
  • Variegated Demon — two decks, 8 foundations, Aces pre-placed, draw three
  • Chameleon — 3 columns, draw one, no redeals, any-suit downward build
  • Rainbow — 4 columns, draw one, no redeals, any-suit downward build

Key strategic concepts

Think in full wrapping cycles. If the base is 9, the full sequence is 9→10→J→Q→K→A→2→3→4→5→6→7→8. Cards just above the base are urgent; cards just below the base will be last. In draw-three, only the top waste card is playable at a time. Check the exposed reserve and tableau cards before covering a useful waste card with another draw.

Selective Canfield is part of The Heights · Canfield family and is a variant of Canfield.

More Canfield family games

  • Canfield — Compact reserve patience with wrap-around foundations.
  • American Toad — Two-deck patience with a 20-card reserve.
  • Chameleon — Canfield variant: 3 columns, any-suit, no redeals.
  • Rainbow — Draw one, any-suit tableau, no redeals.
  • Superior Canfield — Visible reserve, unlimited redeals.
  • Thirteen Up — Canfield with 2s as base, same-suit building.

Also try

  • Gaps (Grid & sequence puzzles) — Fill four rows of gaps to build 2–K suit runs. No aces, three passes.
  • Klondike (Klondike family) — The patience everyone knows. Draw 1 or 3.
  • Seahaven Towers (FreeCell & open packers) — FreeCell cousin: ten columns, same-suit builds, two cells.

Learn