Free Baker's Dozen Solitaire Online
Baker's Dozen is a compact open solitaire game: thirteen columns of four face-up cards, one card moves at a time, and suits do not matter when you build down. Solitaire Play offers Baker's Dozen in your browser for free, with Hint, Undo and a daily challenge, and no download or sign-up.
Official Rules & Scoring
The goal is to move all 52 cards to the four foundations, one per suit, building each up from Ace to King. All 52 cards are dealt face up into thirteen columns of four. Any King in a column is placed at the bottom of that column, so it can never cover another card.
- Columns: only the bottom card of each column can move. Build down regardless of suit, for example a 6 of spades on a 7 of hearts. Only one card moves at a time.
- Empty columns: once a column is empty it stays empty. No card, not even a King, can be placed in an empty column.
- Foundations: start each suit with its Ace and add the next card of the same suit. Cards on a foundation stay there unless you undo.
- No stock, no free cells, no redeal: every card is visible from the start, so the whole game is planning.
- Winning: you win when all 52 cards are on the foundations. If no card can move to a column or a foundation, the deal is lost.
Strategy & Tips
- Look for the Aces and 2s first. A low card buried under four others decides how the game goes; plan the order of digging before you move.
- Do not bury a low card. Putting a high card on a card that needs to leave soon creates a wall you can only remove one card at a time.
- Count the Kings. A King at the bottom of a column can only be freed when everything above it is gone, so those columns go empty last.
- Think before every move. There is no free cell to park a card, so each move is committed; use Undo to test ideas.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can every Baker's Dozen deal be won?
No, and many random deals cannot be won. New games and the daily challenge only use deals that our solver has proved winnable (it found a full winning line within its search limit, and the line was replayed move by move). In our screening the solver proved about 59% of 8,000 random deals winnable (4,731), and only those are kept. Winnable does not mean easy: the solver sees every card and plans the whole game, which is hard to do by eye.
Why can't I put a card in an empty column?
That is the Baker's Dozen rule: an empty column stays empty for the rest of the deal. It is what makes the game hard, because there is no free space to move cards into.
Does the suit matter when building a column?
No. Any card can go on a card exactly one rank higher, whatever its suit. Suits only matter on the foundations, where each suit builds from Ace to King.
Why are the Kings at the bottom of the columns?
Because the deal moves each King to the bottom of its column. A King cannot go on any other card, so a King on top would block everything below it for the whole game.
Where are the other solitaire games?
Klondike is on the home page, and FreeCell, Spider, Pyramid, TriPeaks, Golf and Yukon have their own pages.
Want to play better? Read our Baker's Dozen strategy guide.