What is Baker's Solitaire?

Baker's Solitaire, usually called Baker's Game, is the older, tougher cousin of FreeCell. All 52 cards are dealt face up in front of you, there is no hidden pile to draw from, and four small "free cells" let you park awkward cards while you dig out the ones underneath.

The one difference from FreeCell is the difference that matters: in Baker's Solitaire you build your tableau columns down in the same suit, not in alternating colours. So the 9♠ only ever sits on the 10♠, never on a red ten. That single rule turns a gentle game into a proper thinking game.

Because every card is visible from the first second, there is no luck of the draw to blame. Everything you need to win is already on the table. The question is whether you can find it.

Where Baker's Solitaire came from

The game was made public in the June 1968 issue of Scientific American, where Martin Gardner described it in his "Mathematical Games" column as a game played by C. L. Baker. Gardner noted that Baker learned it from his father, who had picked it up "from an Englishman during the 1920s".

A few years later Paul Alfille wrote a computer version but changed the packing rule to alternating colours, and that version became FreeCell, which Microsoft later shipped with Windows and made famous. So the game you are about to play is the ancestor, not the copy. It is sometimes listed under the name Brain Jam, and its own ancestor is the eight-free-cell game Eight Off.

The layout at a glance

• One standard 52-card deck, all cards face up, nothing hidden.
• Eight tableau columns. The first four columns get seven cards, the last four get six.
• Four free cells at the top left, each holds exactly one card.
• Four foundations at the top right, one for each suit.

How to play Baker's Solitaire: the rules, step by step

The goal

Move all 52 cards to the four foundations. Each foundation is built up in one suit: Ace, 2, 3, 4 … all the way to King. Get all four suits home and the game is won.

Moving cards in the tableau

1. You may move the bottom (exposed) card of any column.
2. It can go on a card that is one rank higher and of the same suit, 4♥ onto 5♥, J♣ onto Q♣.
3. Or it can go to an empty free cell.
4. Or it can go to an empty column, any card is allowed, not just a King.
5. Or, if it is next in line, straight to its foundation.

Using the free cells

A free cell is a parking space, not a pocket. One card each, and a card in a cell can come back out later to a matching suit sequence, an empty column or its foundation. With all four cells full you have almost no room to manoeuvre, so treat the fourth cell as an emergency only.

Moving more than one card at a time

Strictly speaking, Baker's Solitaire moves one card at a time. On a computer table the shuffling of cards through the cells is done for you, so you can drag a whole same-suit run if you have the space to support it. The usual limit is:

Cards you can shift = (number of empty free cells + 1), doubled for every empty column you leave free.

So with two empty cells and one empty column you can move six cards in one go. That is exactly why empty columns are worth so much.

How the game ends

There is no deal, no redeal and no waste pile, so the game ends when every card is home, or when no legal move is left. Since nothing is hidden, a dead end is a puzzle you lost rather than bad luck, which is precisely what keeps people coming back.

How to play it here

This Baker's Solitaire is completely free, with no ads of any kind, no pop-ups and no paywalls. There is nothing to download or install, no sign-up, no account and no email address, click a card and you are playing. It is built simply for enjoyment: no gambling, no in-app purchases and no timer nagging you to hurry.

• Large, clear cards and readable text, comfortable for older players or anyone with tired eyes, plus a zoom control to make the board bigger.
• Hint when a position looks locked, unlimited Undo so you can test an idea and take it back, and Restart to begin the same challenge again.
• Auto Play tidies the last cards home once the deal is solved.
• Drag and drop or simply tap to move cards, whichever suits your hand.
• Wins, time and moves are tracked for the current game, so you can see yourself improve.
• Sound can be switched off, and there is fullscreen mode and a choice of table colours.
• Runs in any modern browser on desktop, tablet and phone. Every feature is available to everyone.

Strategy that actually works

Your first two minutes

• Read the board before you touch it. Find the Aces and the 2s and see how deeply they are buried.
• Plan a target column. Pick the shortest column, or one with junk on top, and work towards emptying it completely.
• Look for suit pairs already in place, a 7♦ that can take the 6♦ from a nearby column is free progress.

Mid-game thinking

• Empty columns beat empty cells. A free cell holds one card; an empty column holds a growing suit run and doubles your moving power.
• Send cards to the foundation freely. Unlike alternating-colour games, a card on the foundation is rarely missed here, because a tableau card can only ever be used by one specific neighbour.
• Never park a card without an exit plan. Before a card goes to a cell, know which card will release it.
• Beware low cards under high cards of the same suit, a 2♠ trapped beneath the K♠ in the same column is one of the classic traps.
• Use Undo as a thinking tool. Try a line three moves deep, then step back and compare it with another.

Common mistakes

1. Filling all four cells early, then discovering nothing can come out.
2. Filling an empty column with a King out of habit, sometimes a mid-rank card of a suit you are collecting is far more useful.
3. Building long runs in the wrong suit direction and blocking your own aces.
4. Rushing. There is no clock pushing you here; the slow move is usually the good one.

Verified facts and figures

That 74.3% figure is the honest headline of this game: roughly one deal in four simply cannot be won, no matter how well you play. If you are winning about half your games unaided, you are playing well.

Baker's Solitaire in New Zealand

We will be straight with you: nobody publishes official numbers on how many New Zealanders play Baker's Solitaire, so we are not going to invent any. What we can say is what we see on our own table.

Patience has long been a quiet Kiwi habit, a hand or two with a cuppa, on the deck in a Hawke's Bay summer or beside the heat pump when a Southland winter closes in. Play shifts with the weather and the calendar: long weekends, wet Wellington Sundays and the darker months bring the biggest run of games, while phones and tablets do most of the work during a ferry crossing or a wait at the clinic.

Baker's Solitaire is a favourite among players who have worn out Klondike. If you are new to open-card games, try FreeCell first, then come back here, the same skills apply, with one extra level of discipline. For a change of pace, Yukon Solitaire and Spider Solitaire 2 Suits stretch the same muscles, while Golf Solitaire is the one for a five-minute break. The full list is on our games page.

Frequently asked questions

Is Baker's Solitaire the same as Baker's Dozen?

No. They just share a name. Baker's Dozen deals 52 cards into 13 columns with no free cells, and Wikipedia puts its odds of winning at about 1 in 2. Baker's Solitaire (Baker's Game) uses eight columns and four free cells.

Is it harder than FreeCell?

Yes, clearly. Same-suit building gives every card exactly one possible home in the tableau instead of two. That is why about 74.3% of Baker's Game deals are solvable, against very nearly 100% for FreeCell.

Can every deal be won?

No, and that is part of the game's character. When you are truly stuck, press Restart or start a fresh deal with a clear conscience.

Do I need to pay, register or download anything?

No. The game is completely free, there are no ads or pop-ups, and there is no download, install, sign-up, account or email required. Hint, unlimited Undo, Restart and Auto Play are available to everyone.

Will it work on my iPad or phone?

Yes, it runs in any modern browser on desktop, tablet and phone. Tap or drag to move cards, and use the zoom control and fullscreen mode to make the cards as large as you like.

Is using Hint or Undo cheating?

Not at all. In an open game like this, Undo is how you learn to see three moves ahead. Many strong players use it as a planning tool rather than a rescue.

Where can I learn more?

Our blog covers tactics and the history of individual games, and you can start any time from the home page.