Rules
Penguin Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use one standard 52-card deck.
- Deal seven tableau columns of seven face-up cards.
- The first card dealt is the beak.
- The other three cards with the beak rank start on foundations.
- Seven flipper cells can each store one card.
- Tableau cards build downward by suit, with ace-to-king wrapping allowed.
- Same-suit descending sequences can move together, regardless of flipper space.
- Empty columns accept only the rank below the beak, or a sequence starting with that rank.
- Foundations build upward by suit from the beak rank, wrapping after king.
- Win by moving all 52 cards to the foundations.
How to play
How to play Penguin Solitaire
Penguin Solitaire is an open, FreeCell-family patience game, but it has a sharper rule identity than "FreeCell with more cells." Every card is visible. There is no stock, no waste pile, and no hidden tableau card waiting to surprise you. The puzzle is to make space in seven tableau columns while four foundations build from a rank chosen by the opening card.
Select a tableau card or a clean same-suit descending sequence, then move it to another tableau column, a flipper cell, or a foundation. A card in a flipper cell can move back to the tableau or onward to a foundation. The game is won when all four suits have been built onto the foundations.
The beak
What the beak changes
The beak is the first card dealt. If the first card is the 5 of spades, then fives are the base rank for the entire deal. The other three fives are immediately placed on their foundations while the 5 of spades stays in the tableau. Your job includes freeing that original beak card so its suit can start too.
The beak rank controls two important rules. Foundations start with that rank and then climb upward by suit. Empty tableau columns start with the rank immediately below the beak. With a 5 beak, empty columns must start with a 4. With an ace beak, empty columns must start with a king.
Layout
The Penguin layout on this page
This version deals seven face-up tableau columns, seven flipper cells, and four suit foundations. The flipper cells sit above the tableau because they behave like temporary holding places. Each flipper cell can hold one card, but unlike FreeCell, open flipper cells are not used to calculate whether a long sequence can move.
The foundations are not all equally ready at the start. Three of them already contain a beak-rank card. The fourth is waiting for the beak itself, which is somewhere inside the tableau. That asymmetry is the reason the game keeps asking you to think about one specific card instead of treating all low cards alike.
Moves
Legal Penguin Solitaire moves
Tableau building is strict: suits must match and ranks must descend by one. A 9 of hearts can move onto the 10 of hearts, not onto the 10 of diamonds and not onto the 8 of hearts. A packed same-suit run can move as a group, so 9-8-7 of hearts can travel together when the first card fits the destination.
Foundations use the opposite direction. They build upward by suit from the beak rank. If the beak is a 5, a foundation runs 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, ace, 2, 3, 4. That wraparound is not a cosmetic detail; it is the rule that makes Penguin feel different from standard ace-to-king builders.
Tableau9 of hearts onto 10 of hearts
Sequence9-8-7 of one suit as a packet
FlipperOne loose card in a cell
Empty columnOnly the rank below the beak
Foundation order
Foundation examples by beak rank
Penguin foundations always stop on the rank immediately below the beak. That means every foundation still has thirteen cards when complete, but the order can begin anywhere in the rank cycle. Use the current beak badge above the board to keep the deal's order in mind.
Beak 55, 6, 7 ... K, A, 2, 3, 4
Beak AA, 2, 3 ... Q, K
Beak QQ, K, A, 2 ... 10, J
Beak 22, 3, 4 ... K, A
Flippers
How to use flipper cells
A flipper cell holds one card. Use it to lift a blocker long enough to expose the next card in a column or to move a card out of a same-suit sequence's path. The seven cells feel generous, but they can disappear quickly if every move only parks another loose card.
A good flipper move should have a visible purpose: free the beak, release the empty-column rank, or let a same-suit packet settle. If a card goes into a flipper cell and has no route back out, it may be costing more space than it creates.
Empty columns
Why empty columns are restricted
Empty columns are powerful in many open-cell games, so Penguin puts a leash on them. You cannot fill a space with any card you like. The first card has to be the rank below the beak, or the top of a same-suit sequence beginning with that rank.
This rule changes the whole board. An empty column is not automatically useful if the right rank is buried. Sometimes the strongest move is not to make a space immediately, but to prepare the exact rank that can occupy it.
Strategy
Penguin Solitaire strategy that actually changes the deal
First, locate the beak and ask what sits on top of it. Freeing the beak starts the fourth foundation, and that often turns a lopsided deal into a manageable one. You do not always need to dig straight down to it, but you should know which moves make that path shorter.
Second, track the beak-minus-one rank. Those cards are the only natural starters for empty columns. If the beak is a 9, eights are precious. Do not bury every 8 under an awkward pile, and do not waste a clean 8-led sequence when it could become a new working column.
Third, build suit packets instead of scattering single cards. Penguin lets long same-suit sequences move without FreeCell-style capacity math, so a tidy run is worth preserving. A six-card suited packet can move cleanly; six unrelated cards in flipper cells can freeze the board.
Mistakes
Common Penguin Solitaire mistakes
- Forgetting that empty columns need the rank below the beak.
- Using flipper cells as permanent storage instead of temporary leverage.
- Breaking a clean same-suit sequence to make a short-term move.
- Chasing foundation moves while the beak suit foundation is still empty.
- Ignoring wraparound order, especially king-to-ace on foundations.
- Opening a column before the correct starter rank is available.
Difficulty
How difficult is Penguin Solitaire?
Penguin is friendlier than its strict same-suit rules first suggest because every card is face up and seven flipper cells give you breathing room. The difficulty comes from planning, not hidden information. You can see the problem. You still have to untangle it.
This page does not publish a fixed win-rate claim because the honest number should come from this exact implementation and a measured set of deals. Rule choices, hints, undo, and whether deals are pre-filtered all change the statistics.
This version
The exact Penguin Solitaire version used here
This site uses one 52-card deck, seven tableau columns, seven flipper cells, and four foundations. The other three cards matching the beak rank are placed on foundations during the deal. Tableau sequences build down by suit and may wrap from ace to king. Foundations build up by suit and may wrap from king to ace.
Packed same-suit sequences can move as a unit without checking how many flipper cells are open. Cards moved to foundations stay there. Undo is available for learning and recovery, restart returns the current deal to its opening layout, and new game creates a fresh random shuffle. There is no stock, redeal, timer bonus, or numbered-deal mode on this page yet.
Variants
Penguin variants and nearby house rules
Penguin is usually described as a David Parlett invention in the FreeCell family, so most rule differences come from software handling rather than old regional traditions. Digital versions may differ in whether they animate only single-card moves, how aggressively they auto-move foundation cards, and whether they allow taking cards back down from foundations.
The important thing to check on any Penguin page is the foundation base rank and empty-space rule. If a site quietly turns Penguin into ordinary ace-up foundations or lets any card fill a space, it has changed the main puzzle. This page keeps the beak-centered rule set visible in the board itself.
Comparison
Penguin vs FreeCell and Eight Off
Penguin, FreeCell, and Eight Off all give you open information and holding cells, but they reward different habits. FreeCell builds tableau columns by alternating color and uses four free cells. Eight Off builds by suit and gives eight reserve cells, usually with king-only empty columns. Penguin splits the difference in a more eccentric way: seven cells, seven columns, suit building, wrapped foundations, and beak-controlled empty columns.
If FreeCell feels too familiar, Penguin is a good next step because it keeps the satisfying visible-planning style while changing what space means. You are not just asking "How many cells are open?" You are asking "Where is the beak, where is the beak-minus-one rank, and can this suit sequence stay intact long enough to matter?"