Play Castles in Spain Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)

The whole deck hits the table at once across thirteen four-card piles that build down in alternating colors, no stock to fall back on. About 70% winnable.

Castles in Spain Solitaire takes its name from an old idiom: to build castles in Spain is to build daydreams on thin air. The game is a traditional member of the Baker's Dozen family, and like its relatives it lays the entire deck on the table at once — thirteen piles of four cards, every one of them face up, with no stock to fall back on.

Two house rules give it a character of its own. The piles build down in alternating colors rather than in any suit, which narrows every play to exactly two candidate cards. In return, an emptied pile does not stay empty as it would in Baker's Dozen: any card may move into the space, and those spaces are the levers that pry the castle apart. Note too that the Kings are dealt wherever they happen to fall — they are not tucked to the bottom of their piles — so a badly placed King must be dug out with a space rather than waited on.

That lack of a stock to fall back on is exactly why this one rates moderately easy, with about a 70% win rate. You're working a single deck, and skill carries most of the outcome.

Baker's Dozen Solitaire and Spanish Solitaire take the same idea in their own directions.

You already know original Solitaire, and it's always there when you want the fundamentals again.

If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.

Enjoy playing!

How to play Castles in Spain Solitaire

Layout:

4 foundation piles: Build up in suit from Ace to King.

13 tableau piles: Dealt in two rows — seven piles above and six below — with four face-up cards in each. Build down in alternating colors, one card at a time. Any card may fill an empty space.

There is no stock and no waste; the whole deck is dealt at the start of the game.

Foundation:

There are four foundation piles, and they begin the game empty.

Each foundation starts with an Ace. A card can be added to a foundation pile only if it's one rank higher and the same suit as the pile's current top card, so the only card that fits on an 8 of spades is the 9 of spades. There can be no more than 13 cards in a pile.

The top card of each foundation can be moved back into play if another pile will accept it.

Tableau:

There are thirteen tableau piles of four cards each. Every card is dealt face-up, and the Kings stay wherever the deal drops them.

A card can be added to a tableau pile only if it's one rank lower and the opposite color of the pile's current top card, so the only cards that fit on an 8 of spades are the 7 of hearts and 7 of diamonds.

Cards on the tableau that are not covered by another card are free to be played onto the foundation or any other tableau pile.

Any card may fill an empty tableau spot.

Only one card may be moved at a time; sequences are not permitted.