🥖 Baker's Dozen
18 playsBaker's Dozen
Thirteen columns of four, every card on show, and a deal that can always be won.
About Baker's Dozen
Baker's Dozen takes its name from its thirteen columns, and it is a patience of complete information: all fifty-two cards lie face up from the first moment, so every failure is a failure of foresight rather than of luck. Kings are moved to the foot of their columns at the deal. Cards may then be built downward one rank at a time regardless of suit, only the top card of a column moves, and a column once emptied can never be refilled — which makes each Queen buried under a lower card a problem to be solved rather than a nuisance. The goal is to carry all four suits home from Ace to King. Every deal served here has been proven winnable, and undo is free.
How to Play
Move the top card of any column onto another column whose top card is exactly one rank higher, in any suit. Build the four foundations upward by suit, from Ace to King. Emptied columns stay empty. Every deal can be won; use Undo freely and ask for a Hint when stuck.
💡 Tips & Strategy
Every card is face up, so begin every deal by looking before you move. Find the Aces and twos and note what is lying on top of each; the whole game is the business of digging these low cards out in a sensible order. A column with an Ace near its foot and a stack of high cards above it is the one that needs a plan from the first move.
The difficulty is parking space. A card can move only onto a card exactly one rank higher, and there are just four of each rank, so the tens are shared among every nine that needs a home. Before you commit a card to a parking place, ask whether another card will need that same spot more — and whether moving onto it buries something you will want shortly.
Do not aim for empty columns. In this game an emptied column can never be refilled, so it offers nothing; the columns with a King at the foot, by contrast, are permanent bases on which long descending sequences can safely be built. Use them as the store for high cards that are in the way.
Send Aces and twos home at once, but be less hasty with higher cards: a seven on the foundation is no longer available as a resting place for a six still buried in the tableau. It is safe to send a card home when every card one rank below it is already there. Every deal here is winnable, so if you find yourself stuck, undo a few moves and look for the fork you took — or ask for a hint, which is worked out from your current position.