Free Canfield Solitaire Online
Canfield, also known as Demon, is a solitaire game built around a 13-card reserve and four foundations that start from a rank chosen by the deal. Solitaire Play offers Canfield 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. Thirteen cards are dealt to the reserve, with only its top card face up. The next card is turned up as the foundation base card, four cards start four columns, and the other 34 cards form the stock.
- Foundations: the base card goes to its foundation at once. The other three suits start with a card of the same rank. Each foundation is built up in suit, and after King it continues with Ace. The base rank is shown in the status bar.
- Columns: build down in alternating colours (a black 6 on a red 7). The sequence wraps, so a King can be placed on an Ace. You can move a single card or any proper sequence, starting from any card in it.
- Reserve: the top card of the reserve can be played to a foundation or a column. When a column becomes empty, the top reserve card moves into it automatically.
- Empty columns: after the reserve is gone, an empty column stays empty and can be filled with any card or sequence, including the top waste card.
- Stock: turn three cards at a time onto the waste. The top waste card can be played to a foundation or a column. When the stock is empty, tap it to turn the waste over and go through it again; there is no limit on redeals.
- Winning: you win when all 52 cards are on the foundations. Cards cannot be moved back from a foundation.
Strategy & Tips
- Empty the reserve. its cards are the hardest to use and the ones that block you; play them whenever you safely can.
- Think before filling an empty column. once the reserve is gone, an empty column is your most flexible space, so do not spend it on a card that does not help.
- Build the columns long. longer sequences can be moved as one piece and cover cards you do not need yet.
- Use the stock as a source, not a habit. look at the top waste card and the reserve card before you turn more cards.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can every Canfield deal be won?
Yes. 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). About 59% of the random Canfield deals we screened passed, and only those are kept. Winnable does not mean easy: the solver sees the whole stock and the whole reserve, and you do not.
What is the card in the first foundation?
It is the foundation base card. Its rank is the starting rank for all four foundations: if it is a 7, every suit is built 7, 8, 9 and so on up to King, then Ace, 2 and so on up to 6. The base rank changes from deal to deal, and the first box in the status bar shows it (for example Q↑ 14/52 means the foundations start from Queen and 14 cards are home).
Can I move part of a column?
Yes. You can pick up any card in a column that is part of a proper sequence (descending, alternating colours) and move it with the cards below it to another column. The cards you move must form a sequence, and the card you pick up must fit on the destination.
What happens when a column becomes empty?
While the reserve still has cards, its top card moves into the empty column automatically. Once the reserve is empty, an empty column stays empty until you put something into it, and then it accepts any card or sequence, including the top card of the waste.
Can I redeal the stock?
Yes, as often as you like. When the stock runs out, tap it again to turn the waste pile over and go through it once more, three cards at a time.
Can I take cards back from the foundations?
No. In Canfield a card that has gone to a foundation stays there.
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 Canfield strategy guide.