The classic fan patience, with every card in view: build the fans down by suit, free the Aces, and use your two redeals well.
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How to play
La Belle Lucie uses one 52-card pack, dealt face up into seventeen fans of three cards, with the last card making an eighteenth fan of its own. Every card is visible from the start.
Only the top card of each fan can be played.
Aces go to the foundations as soon as they're free, and each foundation builds up in its suit to the King.
On the fans, cards build down in the same suit: the 7♣ can go on the 8♣.
When a fan is empty it stays empty: it can't be filled again, not even with a King.
Twice in a game you can redeal: the cards left in the fans are gathered, shuffled and dealt out again in fans of three, with any remainder making a fan of its own. Traditionally you redeal only once no moves are left; here the Redeal button works at any time, so the choice of when is yours.
You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations.
Controls
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.
Redeal gathers, shuffles and deals the fans again; the button shows how many redeals you have left.
Undo takes back a move, as many times as you like. Auto-finish sends every card it can to the foundations.
Game modes
Daily: everyone gets the same deal each day.
New Game: a fresh deal.
Scoring
5 points for each card on the foundations, plus 500 and a time bonus (up to 1,200, less a point a second) for getting them all home.
Tips & strategy
A card put on another of its suit blocks that fan until both can go home. Build only when it frees something you need.
A King with lower cards of its suit beneath it can't be solved without a redeal, so save the redeals for those.
Before you redeal, make every move you can: the fewer cards go back into the shuffle, the better your chances.
Origins
La Belle Lucie (Lovely Lucy) is described by Wikipedia as representative of the "fan" family of patiences, with a pleasing layout. It originated in France and was first published in English by Lady Adelaide Cadogan in 1870. Other names and close relatives include The Fan, Clover Leaves, Three Shuffles and a Draw, Alexander the Great, Trefoil and Midnight Oil. In Three Shuffles and a Draw, after the last redeal you may also pull out one buried card, a move called the merci. Though every card is visible, Wikipedia notes that the game is very hard to win under its standard rules. The rules here follow Wikipedia's description, written in our own words.
About La Belle Lucie
La Belle Lucie 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.
