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Fans (La Belle Lucie) · Old Town

Crescent Solitaire

Play a larger two-deck patience game with sixteen outer piles, eight central foundations, same-suit wraparound building, and six redeals by default.

Decks
2
Pace
Long
Difficulty
Medium
Family
Fans (La Belle Lucie)

Select a tableau or foundation top card, then choose a highlighted destination.

♣ A → K

♦ A → K

♥ A → K

♠ A → K

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

♣ K → A

♦ K → A

♥ K → A

♠ K → A

How Crescent compares

  • Miss Milligan for another deep two-deck game with builder-style tableau play.
  • Zodiac Solitaire if you want a larger board and more phase-based planning.
  • Queen of Italy for another extended patience game with multiple foundation lanes.

What is Crescent Solitaire?

Crescent is a two-deck patience game built around a semicircular tableau of sixteen fan stacks, arranged in a crescent around eight central foundation piles. Four foundations build ascending from Ace to King; four build descending from King to Ace, one ascending and one descending per suit. The same-suit tableau build rule and the rotation mechanic (which shifts all stacks instead of drawing individual cards) give Crescent a distinctive rhythm found in no other common solitaire.

Full rules

Two 52-card decks are used. One Ace and one King per suit anchor the eight foundations. The remaining 96 cards fill sixteen tableau stacks of six cards. Closed Crescent starts with only the top cards face-up and turns over cards as they become exposed. Open Crescent starts with every card face-up. Only top cards can move in either mode. A top card moves to a same-suit stack one rank away, or to its foundation. When stuck, redeal: move each pile’s bottom card to its top and reveal it, preserving the other cards’ order. Choose 3, 6, or 9 redeals in Settings; this game defaults to Closed Crescent with six redeals. Win when all 104 cards reach foundations.

Bidirectional foundations and suit tracking

Tracking both foundation directions for all four suits is the central cognitive task. A 7 of clubs plays up if the ascending clubs foundation is at 6, or down if the descending foundation is at 8. Missing either opportunity wastes a rotation. Before rotating, always scan all eight foundation tops against the current sixteen stack tops.

Read the full Crescent strategy guide →

The rotation mechanic

Rotating the crescent moves each nontrivial pile’s bottom card to its top. Check which newly exposed card the rotation may make useful. A rotation can help a tableau transfer even when it does not immediately advance a foundation. Compare the current top-card moves first because rotations are limited.

How Crescent compares

  • Emperor — two-deck alternating-color Klondike variant with stock
  • Miss Milligan — two-deck deal-as-you-go builder with the Waive mechanic
  • Tournament — two-deck game with bidirectional foundations and no tableau building
  • Archway — two-deck bidirectional foundations; fully open information with arch reserve

Crescent is part of Old Town · Fans (La Belle Lucie).

More Fans (La Belle Lucie) games

Also try

  • Emperor (Forty Thieves & two-deck builders) — Two-deck Forty Thieves relative with waste play.
  • Intrigue (Court games) — Eight Queen columns; eight Five-piles built down to the King and eight Six-piles built up to the Jack, regardless of suit.
  • Milligan Cell (Miss Milligan & row dealers) — Four free cells add temporary storage to Miss Milligan’s eight columns.

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