Beleaguered Castle
The four aces start on the foundations in the middle: the castle. The other 48 cards lie face up in eight rows of six, four rows on each side. Move one free card at a time, build down in any suit, and bring every card home.
Also try Baker’s Dozen → Also try Gaps →
How to play Beleaguered Castle
How to play
Only the free card of a row can move, one card at a time: the card that lies on top of the others. Put it on a card one rank higher, whatever the suit, or on its foundation, which builds up by suit from the ace to the king. Any card may go into an empty row. Drag a card, or tap it and then tap where it should go; double-tap sends it to its foundation or to a row where it fits.
The table
On a wide screen the foundations stand in the middle like a castle. The left wing’s rows run in toward them and the right wing’s rows run out from them; every row fans to the right, so its free card is always the one on the right. On a narrow screen the eight rows stand up as columns under the foundations, left wing first, and the free card is the lowest one.
Tips
An empty row is the most useful space you can have, because any card fits there: try to clear a short row early, and don’t fill an empty row without a plan. Before you move a card, look at what it uncovers. A card moves to its foundation by itself only when no other card could ever need to sit on it.
Questions
How do you play Beleaguered Castle solitaire?
The aces start on the foundations and the other 48 cards are dealt face up in eight rows. Move the free card of a row onto a card one rank higher of any suit, into an empty row, or onto its foundation. Build all four foundations up to the king to win.
Can every game of Beleaguered Castle be won?
No, many deals can’t be won at all. Our solver, which sees every card, searched every possible position in nearly three in ten random deals and found no win; it won almost six in ten. Every deal here, including the daily, is one the solver won, and the win was replayed move by move through the rules.
How is Beleaguered Castle different from Streets and Alleys and Baker’s Dozen?
Streets and Alleys is the same game with the aces dealt into the rows instead of starting on the foundations. Baker’s Dozen deals all 52 cards into thirteen columns, moves the kings to the bottom, and never lets you refill an empty column.
Why do some cards move to the foundations by themselves?
A card goes up by itself only when no other card could ever need to rest on it: a 2, or a card whose four next-lower cards are all home already. Any other card waits for you, because you might still want to build on it.
What does the hint do?
Hint uses a solver that sees the same cards you do: every card is face up, so it knows nothing you can’t see. It searches for a win from your position and highlights the first move; when it finds one, the hint says the deal is still winnable.