Beleaguered Castle

Beleaguered Castle uses one 52-card pack. The four Aces are taken out to start the foundations, and the other 48 cards are dealt face up into eight rows of six. Here the foundations sit along the top with the rows below them; traditionally the rows are laid out as wings to the left and right of the Aces.

• Only the exposed card at the end of each row can be moved, one card at a time.
• It can go onto a foundation, building up in its suit from the Ace to the King.
• Or it can go onto the end of another row, on a card one rank higher, of any suit: a 7 on any 8.
• When a row is empty, any card can be moved into it.
• You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations.

• Tap a face-up card to pick it up, then tap the pile where it should go. Piles where it fits are highlighted.
• Double-tap a card to send it to a foundation, if it can go there.
• Undo takes back a move, as many times as you like. Auto-finish sends every card it can to the foundations.

• Daily: everyone gets the same deal each day.
• New Game: a fresh deal.

5 points for each card you build onto the foundations (the Aces start there), plus 500 and a time bonus (up to 1,200, less a point a second) for getting them all home.

• Empty rows are precious: with an empty row you can shift a card out of the way and dig out what's under it.
• Before you move a card, check you're not burying a low card you'll need soon.
• Kings can only go home last. A King at the end of a row blocks it, so try to move Kings into empty rows.

Beleaguered Castle is a one-pack patience, also called Laying Siege and Sham Battle. Wikipedia describes it as sometimes called "Freecell without cells", because it plays somewhat like the popular computer game FreeCell without the extra spaces. It was first recorded by William Brisbane Dick in 1883 and has appeared regularly in games compendia since. In the traditional layout, the four Aces are laid out in a column with the rows extending to the left and right of them like wings. Parlett lists Citadel, Fortress and Streets and Alleys among its variants. The rules here follow Wikipedia's description, written in our own words.

Beleaguered Castle is a free browser version of the classic solitaire card game, with a daily deal, unlimited undo and online leaderboards. There's nothing to download and no sign-up.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.