Penguin Solitaire

Penguin is one of the most satisfying patience games of the modern era. It was designed by British game scholar David Parlett while writing The Penguin Book of Patience — a title that gave the game its name and a certain literary self-awareness. Unlike most solitaire games that evolved anonymously over centuries, Penguin has a known inventor and a documented origin. That alone makes it unusual.

The elegance begins with setup. All 52 cards deal face-up into seven columns of seven. One card is left over — the beak — and becomes the starting card of the first foundation. The three other cards of the same rank are found in the columns and moved to the remaining three foundations. Foundations don't always start from Ace. If the beak is a 7, foundations run 7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A-2-3-4-5-6 using wraparound sequences. Every game starts from a different rank.

The seven flipper cells — one above each column — are the game's most distinctive feature. Like FreeCell's free cells, they hold any available card from the bottom of a column temporarily. Seven cells instead of the usual four gives considerable tactical flexibility, which is part of why Penguin's win rate is remarkably high.

Tableau building goes down by suit with wraparound: a 2 of Clubs may go on a 3 of Clubs, an Ace of Clubs on a 2 of Clubs — and a King of Clubs on an Ace of Clubs. This wraparound creates movement opportunities that a linear system would not allow, and it is one of Penguin's most satisfying quirks to master.

Because all cards are face-up from the start, Penguin is a game of near-perfect information. Every card is visible, every sequence traceable, every foundation requirement calculable. The challenge is not uncertainty — it is optimization.

1. Shuffle a standard 52-card deck. Deal the first card face-up — this is the beak. It becomes the starting card of the first foundation. Note its rank: all four foundations start from this same rank.
2. Deal the remaining 51 cards face-up into seven columns of seven, fanned so all cards are visible.
3. Locate the other three cards of the same rank as the beak and move them to the three remaining foundation piles. If they are in the columns, move them when they reach the accessible end.

The available card from each column is the bottom card — the last card dealt, shown lowest in the fan. Removing it makes the next card up accessible.

Tableau columns build down by suit with wraparound. Place a card on another card of the same suit that is one rank higher. The sequence wraps: an Ace may go on a 2, and a King may go on an Ace. Groups of properly sequenced same-suit cards move together as a unit.

The seven flipper cells (one above each column) each hold one card temporarily. Any available bottom card may move to an empty flipper cell. Cards in flipper cells may play to a column or to a foundation at any time.

Foundations build upward by suit from the beak rank with the same wraparound. Move a card to a foundation whenever it is next in that suit's sequence.

The game is won when all 52 cards are on the four foundations, each completing a full 13-card suit run from the beak rank.

Penguin was designed by David Parlett, a British game historian and inventor best known for The Penguin Book of Patience (1979) and The Oxford History of Board Games. Parlett created Penguin specifically for his patience compendium. The game's name is a direct reference to the Penguin Books publishing house that commissioned the work.

Parlett is one of the few figures in solitaire history who designed games with documented intentions and published his reasoning. He wanted a patience game with high winnability — he estimated the win rate at close to 99% — while still providing genuine decision-making tension through the flipper cell mechanic and wraparound sequences.

The game gained wider recognition through digital solitaire software in the 1990s and 2000s. Its unusual setup and high win rate made it stand out in crowded solitaire collections. It remains one of the very few modern-designed solitaire games to have achieved lasting popularity alongside centuries-old classics — a testament to Parlett's skill as a game designer.

• Know the beak rank first. Every decision in Penguin flows from knowing which rank starts the foundations and which rank ends them. Cards one rank below the beak are the last to leave the tableau — keep them mobile to protect your endgame.
• Use flipper cells conservatively. Seven cells sounds like plenty, but filling multiple cells early restricts your options in the mid-game when they become essential for untangling columns. Treat each cell as a finite resource.
• Free the beak-rank cards early. Each of the three remaining beak-rank cards locked in a column is a foundation that can't start receiving cards. Get all four foundations running as soon as possible.
• Check for wraparound moves. Before concluding a card has nowhere to go, check whether it fits via wraparound on a card of the same suit. A King often has more destinations than it appears to.