What is Penguin Solitaire?
Penguin Solitaire is a FreeCell variant with two significant rule changes. First, before dealing, one card is chosen as the “beak” rank — all four cards of that rank are removed from the deck and placed on the foundations as starters. Second, tableau sequences build same-suit downward instead of alternating-color downward. Third, there are seven free cells (“flippers”) instead of FreeCell’s four.
The combined effect is a game that rewards the same complete-information planning as FreeCell, but with stricter suit requirements on the tableau and a different foundation start that shifts which cards are immediately urgent.
Full rules
The 52-card deck is dealt, then one card is chosen as the beak. All four beak-rank cards are removed to the four foundations. The remaining 48 cards are dealt face-up into seven tableau columns. Seven free cells (flippers) sit above the tableau.
Tableau sequences build downward by same suit only. A sequence of same-suit cards can move as a unit (supermove applies as in FreeCell). Foundations build upward by suit from the beak rank through a full cycle back to the card just below the beak. Win when all 52 cards reach the foundations.
How Penguin differs from FreeCell
FreeCell uses alternating-color tableau sequences; Penguin uses same-suit sequences. This makes tableau building stricter — a red 7 can only go on a red 8 of the same suit, not just any red 8. The seven free cells (versus FreeCell’s four) partially compensate for this constraint by expanding temporary storage.
The beak-rank foundation start means the game never starts on Aces. If the beak is 5, all foundations start on 5 and cycle 5→6→7→8→9→10→J→Q→K→A→2→3→4. This creates the same wrapping-foundation dynamic as Canfield, within the same-information format as FreeCell.
Read the full Penguin strategy guide →
Same-suit supermoves
FreeCell’s supermove formula applies equally in Penguin: (flippers available + 1) × 2empty columns. With seven flippers instead of four, the maximum mobility at full capacity is higher than in FreeCell. But Penguin’s same-suit sequence rule means sequences form more slowly — a column of alternating-color cards in FreeCell would be a dead pile in Penguin.
The practical result: building even a short same-suit sequence in Penguin requires more deliberate card routing than FreeCell, and the payoff in movement efficiency is larger. Prioritize assembling two or three same-suit sequences early to create functional mobile units.
FreeCell family variants
- FreeCell — alternating-color sequences, four free cells, Ace-based foundations
- Beleaguered Castle — rank-only sequences, no free cells, Ace foundations pre-placed
- Canfield — base-rank wrapping foundations, reserve pile, alternating-color sequences
Related games and reference