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Beleaguered Castle Solitaire is the classic open patience of the siege, free to play online in your browser with no download and no sign-up. The four Aces stand in a column in the middle of the table — the castle keep — and the other 48 cards are dealt face up into eight rows of six, four rows on each side. Only the top card of each row moves: build down regardless of suit — any 6 on any 7 — and send each suit up from its Ace to the King. There are no free cells; an empty row takes any card, so the rows you clear are your only spare room, which is why the game is often called FreeCell without cells. With every card in view it is a game of pure planning: our solver finds a win in 1,514 of the first 2,400 deals and proves 701 of them cannot be won, while a simple rule-of-thumb player wins only 69. Drag single cards or whole runs, tap to play, undo any move, ask for a hint that tells you whether the deal can still be won, replay a deal by its number, and choose random or winnable deals.
How to play Beleaguered Castle Solitaire
- The game takes the four Aces out of the deck and stands them in a column in the middle of the table: these are the foundations, the castle keep. The other 48 cards are dealt face up into eight rows of six, four rows on the left of the keep and four on the right.
- Each foundation builds up in suit from its Ace to the King: A, 2, 3 and so on. A Two goes home by itself as soon as it reaches the top of a row.
- Only the top card of each row is in play — the one at its open end — and cards move one at a time. Move a top card onto another row when it is exactly one rank lower; the suit does not matter, so any 6 goes on any 7. Drag a card, or tap it to send it home, onto a row one rank higher, or into an empty row.
- A row that empties can take any card. There are no free cells in Beleaguered Castle, so empty rows are the only spare room you get: a card parked in one blocks that room until it moves on.
- A run that builds down — say 9, 8, 7 — can be dragged as one when there are enough empty rows to move it one card at a time: two cards need one empty row, four cards need two. The game makes the single moves for you and counts each one. It also sends a card home for you once all four cards one rank lower are home, since nothing in the rows could need it then.
- You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations. If no sequence of moves can bring another card home, the siege is stuck and the deal is lost: undo, replay the deal, or start a new one.
Tips
- Every card is face up, so survey the whole field before your first move. Find each Two and Three and count the cards lying on top of them — those rows decide the game.
- Empty rows are worth more than anything else on the table. Clear the shortest rows first, and think twice before you park a lone card in an empty row: if nothing can follow it, you have spent your room for nothing.
- A card lying above a lower card of any suit must move again before that lower card can go home. Building onto a row whose cards already run downwards buries nothing; building onto a jumbled row adds one more card to dig through later.
- Kings are the hardest cards to place: they go only into an empty row or home. A row with a King near its bottom is a good row to build on, since nothing under the King will be needed until late.
- Press Hint whenever you are unsure. While a winning line exists it shows its next step and says so; once a deal can no longer be won it tells you, so you know to undo rather than play on.
FAQ
Is Beleaguered Castle Solitaire free to play?
Yes. Beleaguered Castle Solitaire is completely free to play online in your browser, with no download, no account and no in-game purchases. It works on phones, tablets and computers.
How do you play Beleaguered Castle?
The four Aces start in a column in the middle as the foundations, and the other 48 cards are dealt face up into eight rows of six, four on each side. Only the top card of a row moves: build down regardless of suit onto another row, or up in suit on the foundations to the King. An empty row takes any card. Win by getting all 52 cards home.
Why is it called Beleaguered Castle?
The layout looks like a siege: the four Aces form the castle keep down the middle and the eight rows of cards press in on it from both sides, like an army camped round the walls. The game was first described in print by William Brisbane Dick in 1883, and it is also known as Laying Siege and Sham Battle.
What can go into an empty row?
Any card. With no free cells and no stock, empty rows are the only spare room in the game — that is why Beleaguered Castle is often called FreeCell without cells. Use them to park a card that blocks something you need, or to move a whole run.
Can I move more than one card at a time?
The rules move one card at a time, but this version lets you drag a run that builds down as one move whenever there are enough empty rows to make the same move card by card: two cards need one empty row, four cards need two, eight need three. The game plays the single moves for you and counts each one, so nothing about the game changes.
Does the suit matter when building on the rows?
No. In the rows you build down regardless of suit, so any 6 goes on any 7. Only the foundations care about suit: each one builds up in a single suit from its Ace to the King.
How often can you win Beleaguered Castle?
We measured it on the first 2,400 deals. With every card in view, a solver that searches the moves ahead finds a win in 1,514 of them, about 63 deals in every 100, and proves that 701 cannot be won at all whatever you do; the other 185 it did not settle in its time limit. A rule-of-thumb player that sends cards home and otherwise makes the move that looks best one step ahead wins only 69 — about one deal in 35. The order you move cards in decides the game.
What does Winnable deals mode do?
It deals only hands the solver has played all the way to a win: the 1,514 winnable deals it found among the first 2,400. Random deals, the default, draws from all 999,999 deal numbers. A winnable deal can still be lost by a wrong move — undo and the hint will get you back on track.
How does the hint work?
The hint asks the same solver. While it can find a winning line from your position, it shows that line's next step and says so; tapping the hinted card plays it. If the solver searches every position reachable from yours without finding a win, the hint tells you the deal can no longer be won, so you know to undo. If it runs out of time first, it shows a sensible move that does not lose on the spot and says no winning line was found.
How is Beleaguered Castle different from Streets and Alleys and Citadel?
They are close relatives with the same building rules. In Streets and Alleys the Aces are not taken out first but shuffled into the rows, so the left-hand rows get seven cards. In Citadel, cards that fit a foundation go there while the deal is still being laid out. Beleaguered Castle starts with all four Aces already home and six cards in every row.
Can I undo a move, and what is the deal number?
Yes, every move can be undone one at a time, right back to the deal, even after the game has ended. Every game has a number from 1 to 999,999 shown at the top of the table; the same number always deals the same cards, so Replay deal gives you the same game again and New deal picks a different one.
Does it save my game, and can I play with a keyboard?
An unfinished deal is saved in your browser and picks up where you left it. With a keyboard, the arrow keys move between piles, Enter plays the top card, U undoes, H asks for a hint and N starts a new deal.