Rules
Seahaven Towers Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use one standard 52-card deck.
- Deal ten tableau columns with five face-up cards in each column.
- The final two cards begin in tower cells; the other two tower cells start empty.
- Each tower cell holds one card.
- Foundations build upward by suit from ace to king.
- Tableau columns build downward by suit, not by color.
- Same-suit descending sequences can move when enough temporary space is open.
- Empty tableau columns accept kings or king-led same-suit sequences only.
- Win by moving all 52 cards to the foundations.
How to play
How to play Seahaven Towers Solitaire
Seahaven Towers is an open-information solitaire game. You see all 52 cards at the start, but you do not get the full breathing room of FreeCell. Fifty cards sit in ten short tableau columns, while the last two cards begin in the middle tower cells. That means the first question is not just what can move, but which cell can be cleared soon.
Move exposed tableau cards, tower-cell cards, and legal same-suit sequences toward the four foundations. Foundations start with aces and build upward in suit. Tableau columns build in the opposite direction: a 9 of spades can take the 8 of spades, but not the 8 of clubs or the 8 of hearts. The exact suit match is the heart of the game.
Background
What is Seahaven Towers Solitaire?
Seahaven Towers belongs to the FreeCell family of patience games: all cards are visible, temporary cells give you maneuvering space, and the finish line is four ace-up suit foundations. It feels different because the tableau is narrower in rule and wider in shape. Ten columns make more exposed cards available, but same-suit building makes each landing place rare.
The name became familiar to many computer-solitaire players through an early Macintosh version, and the game still appeals to players who like FreeCell's open planning but want a stricter suit puzzle. The board is honest: it shows you everything. The hard part is keeping the cells and king spaces from closing before the low cards escape.
Layout
The Seahaven Towers layout on this page
- The top-left area holds four tower cells.
- Two tower cells start occupied, and two start empty.
- The top-right area holds four foundations, one for each suit.
- The tableau has ten face-up columns below the cells and foundations.
- There is no stock, waste pile, draw button, redeal, or hidden card.
- Cards moved to foundations stay there in this version.
Moves
Legal Seahaven Towers moves
A single exposed card can move from a tableau column or tower cell. It may go to a foundation if the foundation is ready, to an empty tower cell, or onto a tableau card of the same suit and one rank higher. A king can move to an empty tableau column because kings are the only cards that can start a new column.
This page also supports packed same-suit sequence moves. If a column contains 10, 9, and 8 of diamonds in exact descending order, that run can move together when the open cells and spare columns could support the transfer. The first card of the sequence must fit the destination. For an empty column, that first card must be a king.
Tableau6 of clubs onto 7 of clubs
FoundationAce, then 2, then 3 of the same suit
Tower cellOne exposed card in one cell
Empty columnKing or king-led same-suit sequence
Cells
How the tower cells change the game
Each tower cell is a one-card holding place. Since two cells are occupied on the opening deal, Seahaven often begins with less freedom than FreeCell even though the tableau has more columns. The fastest improvement is often a move that empties one of those starting cells without spending another cell in exchange.
A card in a tower cell should have a planned exit: a foundation, a matching same-suit parent, or a king space later. Parking a random middle card may help for one move, then quietly remove the cell you needed to move a useful sequence.
Spaces
Why empty columns belong to kings
Empty columns are the strongest workspace on the board, so this implementation uses the classic king-only restriction. A king, or a legal same-suit sequence led by a king, can start a new column. A queen without its king cannot.
Treat a new space as a tool, not a trophy. The best king move opens another card, creates a suit lane that can keep descending, or gives a long sequence somewhere to move while you free the lower cards beneath it.
Capacity
How sequence movement works here
Seahaven Towers is often described as a one-card-at-a-time game in physical play because sequences are moved through available cells and empty columns. On this page, the interface lets you move an already packed same-suit sequence as one action when the board has enough temporary space to make that transfer possible.
More open tower cells mean longer legal sequence moves. Empty columns also help, but the destination column itself does not count as spare space. If the interface refuses a long sequence, it is usually because too many tower cells are occupied or because the sequence is not perfectly in suit.
0 empty cells1 card
2 empty cells3 cards
2 empty cells + 1 spare column6 cards
4 empty cells + 1 spare column10 cards
Strategy
Seahaven Towers strategy that actually helps
Start with the low cards. Aces and twos are the foundation doorway, and an ace buried under only one or two movable cards is often worth a small cell investment. Since all cards are visible, scan each suit from ace upward before you start rearranging high cards.
Then check the two starting tower-cell cards. If one can move to a foundation or onto its same-suit parent, make that move early unless it costs an even better reveal. Two empty cells are useful; three or four empty cells change the entire board because longer suit sequences become practical.
Build suit lanes that uncover real work. A tidy same-suit run is valuable when it frees an ace, opens a king space, or gathers cards that can soon climb to a foundation. A tidy run that buries the only useful landing card can be a trap. In Seahaven, neatness is not the goal; mobility is.
Mistakes
Common Seahaven Towers mistakes
- Filling both open tower cells before one of the starting cell cards has a way out.
- Moving a king into a space only because it is legal, not because it unlocks something.
- Forgetting that tableau cards build by suit, not by alternating color.
- Breaking a useful same-suit sequence to chase a short foundation move.
- Sending middle cards to foundations while they still serve as tableau landing cards.
- Ignoring a buried ace because all cards are visible and the deal looks manageable.
Difficulty
Is Seahaven Towers hard?
Seahaven Towers is harder than it looks. The ten-column deal creates many exposed cards, so the opening can feel generous. The same-suit rule quickly narrows your choices: a card may be one rank lower than a target and still be useless because the suit is wrong.
Compared with FreeCell, the game is less forgiving of casual storage. Compared with Eight Off, the columns are shorter and more numerous, but you have fewer cells and two are occupied immediately. It is a crisp planning game with very little fog.
Winnability
Is Seahaven Towers Solitaire winnable?
This page serves random deals, not a curated list of guaranteed-solvable positions. A good Seahaven player can rescue many deals because every card is visible and undo lets you test a branch. Still, same-suit bottlenecks, poorly timed king spaces, and clogged tower cells can leave a random shuffle with no legal move.
We do not publish a win-rate claim for this implementation because that number should come from measured site data, not from another app's rules. Small rule differences matter: whether sequences move automatically, whether any card can fill a space, and where the two starting cell cards sit all change the feel and the expected success rate.
Variants
Seahaven Towers variants and house rules
The biggest variant is the empty-column rule. This page uses king-only spaces, which keeps the game close to the strict rule family. Some digital versions relax that rule and allow any card or legal sequence into an empty column. That makes the game friendlier but moves it closer to FreeCell.
Sequence movement can also differ by interface. A physical or very strict digital version may ask you to move one card at a time through cells. This page treats a packed same-suit run as movable when the visible cells and spaces prove the move could be made step by step. The rule is the same in spirit, but the interaction is smoother.
Scoring
How Seahaven Towers is scored here
The scoring is deliberately plain. A win means all 52 cards reach the four foundations. The game tracks moves, foundation progress, and occupied tower cells so you can see whether a solve stayed open or survived on careful temporary storage.
Undo restores the previous position and does not add a move. Restart returns the current deal to its opening layout. New game shuffles a fresh random deal. There is no timer, point penalty, numbered-deal selector, or winnable-only shuffle filter on this page yet.
Comparison
Seahaven Towers vs FreeCell, Eight Off, and Baker's Game
FreeCell builds tableau cards by alternating color and starts with four empty free cells. Seahaven Towers builds by suit, starts with two occupied cells, and uses ten shorter columns. FreeCell asks you to manage color sequences; Seahaven asks you to manage suit lanes.
Eight Off also builds down by suit and uses king-only spaces, but it has eight reserve cells and eight columns. Baker's Game is another close cousin because it uses four cells and same-suit tableau building, yet its deal shape is FreeCell-like with eight columns. Seahaven sits between them: wider than Baker's Game, tighter than Eight Off, and more suit-specific than FreeCell.