Baker's Dozen Solitaire

Baker's Dozen occupies a unique position in solitaire: it is simultaneously open information and genuinely difficult. Every card is visible from the moment of the deal — no hidden stock, no face-down mystery — yet winning requires careful planning. This combination of full transparency and real challenge makes it one of the most intellectually honest games in the solitaire catalog.

The name comes from the thirteen tableau columns, echoing the baker's tradition of giving 13 items when a dozen was ordered. The deal places exactly four cards in each column, all face-up, giving a complete picture of the deck before a single move is made. You can see exactly what needs to happen — which makes it all the more frustrating when the sequence resists your best efforts.

The rules strip away most flexibility found in other solitaire games. You can only move the bottom card of any column. There are no empty column spaces to park unwanted cards — when a column empties, it disappears. Tableau building is allowed, but only in descending sequence regardless of suit. Foundations build in ascending suit sequence from Ace to King.

What elevates Baker's Dozen is the King rule: any King dealt to a position other than the bottom of a column is automatically moved to the bottom before play begins. This prevents Kings — the highest cards with nothing to build on in the tableau — from blocking lower cards. It's a small rule with big implications, substantially increasing the win rate over a purely random deal.

The game rewards players who think several moves ahead. With all cards visible, the puzzle is pure: can you find the sequence of moves that frees the Aces and builds the foundations? The satisfaction of solving it cleanly is considerable.

1. Shuffle a standard 52-card deck. Deal all 52 cards face-up into 13 columns of 4 cards each, spread so all ranks and suits are visible. Before play begins, apply the King rule: any King not already at the bottom of its column must be moved to the bottom, without disturbing the other cards' order. Move all Kings that need relocating before starting play.
2. Set up four foundation piles above the tableau, one per suit. Foundations begin empty and build from Ace up to King in strict suit order.
3. During play, only the bottom card of each column is available to move. You may move it to a foundation pile or onto the bottom of another tableau column. To place it on another column, it must go on a card of the next higher rank, regardless of suit — a 7 may go onto an 8 of any suit.
4. Only one card may move at a time. No sequences or groups may move together. When a column empties, the space disappears — it does not serve as a free space or temporary parking spot. There is no stock pile and no redealing. The game is won when all four foundations are built from Ace to King. The game is lost when no legal moves remain and the foundations are incomplete.

Baker's Dozen has murky origins, as do most patience games, but it appears in English-language card game collections from the early 20th century. Some sources connect it to Spanish Patience, an older variant with a similar column-and- foundation structure, suggesting a possible Continental European lineage that was adapted and renamed for British audiences.

The King relocation rule — moving Kings to column bottoms before play — is the feature that most sets Baker's Dozen apart. It appears in the earliest documented versions of the game, suggesting it was part of the original design rather than a later house rule. It reflects a sophisticated understanding of game balance: Kings at column tops create unresolvable blockages in a game with no free spaces, so moving them is a structural necessity.

The game had a modest revival in the early computer solitaire era, appearing in collections that showcased the breadth of solitaire beyond Klondike. It remains a favorite among players who prefer open-information games, because it rewards genuine planning over luck.

• Find the Aces first. Locate all four and trace the path needed to free each one. Nothing else can go to a foundation until the relevant Ace is placed. If an Ace is buried, plan how to clear each blocking card before it becomes urgent.
• Build only to serve foundations. Moving a 7 onto an 8 is only worthwhile if it frees something that helps a foundation or unblocks an Ace or 2. Cosmetic rearrangement wastes moves in a game with no stock to fall back on.
• Spot dependency chains early. If you need the 3 of Hearts but it's under the 9 of Clubs, and the 9 can only go onto the 10 of Spades which is itself buried, you have a chain to untangle. Find the longest chains early and start resolving them before the position gets worse.
• Spread your activity. When multiple valid moves exist, prefer ones that free bottom cards of multiple columns at once. Avoid consolidating cards onto one column while others stagnate — keep options open across the board.