How to Play Canfield Solitaire: Rules and Winning Strategies

Canfield Solitaire steps up the difficulty in Solitaire gameplay. The objective is the same as many other variations—move all of the cards into one of four foundation piles in ascending order and separated by suit. Canfield even has familiar elements, like a stockpile, waste pile, four foundation piles, and a tableau. But a game of Canfield also has several key differences that make this variation more challenging than most other Solitaire card games.

From a reserve pile of 13 facedown cards to only having four columns in the tableau, this game is also known as “Demon Patience” for a reason. It is known to be one of the most challenging single-player card games, with an average win rate of only 7%.

Although it’s packed with unique challenges, this post details the game rules, setup, and winning strategies so you can play Canfield Solitaire and be well on your way to winning in no time.

Canfield Solitaire Objective

Similar to other Solitaire games, the object of Canfield Solitaire is to place all 52 cards into four foundation piles, ascending in order and separated by suit. But the base card that starts each foundation pile is a random rank dealt during setup.

How to Set Up Canfield Solitaire

Canfield uses a standard 52-card deck to set up five distinct areas.

• Reserve pile: The first cards dealt are 13 facedown cards that make up the reserve pile. The top card of this pile is face up. You can use the face-up card to play in foundation piles or tableau columns and must only use a reserve card to fill empty spaces in the tableau. Once the top card is played, you can turn over the next card and use it.
• Foundation piles: Your foundation piles are located above and slightly to the right of the reserve pile. To win the game, you must move all of the cards into these piles in ascending order and separated by suit. One face-up card is dealt in the leftmost foundation pile. This will be your first base card. You have to start all other foundation piles with this rank during gameplay. Only the first foundation card is dealt out.
• Tableau columns: Four face-up cards are dealt horizontally just below the foundation piles and to the right of the reserve pile. These are your tableau piles, where you will build descending sequences that alternate in color. You can wrap sequences in tableau columns, meaning you can continue a sequence from king to ace.
• Stockpile: The remaining cards are placed facedown in a stockpile to the far left of your foundation piles. When you get stuck making moves on the tableau and don’t have a playable reserve card, you can draw new cards from this pile.
• Waste pile: The space next to your stockpile is the waste pile. You flip cards from your stockpile face up into the waste pile to put them into play. Note that you will draw three cards at a time, but only the top card of your waste pile is playable.

How to Play Canfield Solitaire

If you’ve played other Solitaire games, like Klondike Solitaire, you’ll probably catch on quickly to Canfield rules because of its similarities to the classic game.

Build Foundation Piles by Suit, in Ascending Order with Ranks Wrapped

In Canfield you have four foundation piles, one for each suit. You build each foundation pile in ascending order (three, four, five, and so on), but this game begins foundation piles with base cards, not aces. So to complete a sequence, you need to wrap ranks. For example, if your base card is a ten, you would need to add a jack, queen, king, and then wrap back to an ace and ascend until you reach nine.

Only Play Available Face-Up Cards

You cannot play the facedown cards in your stockpile and reserve pile until you flip them over during the game. While you flip three cards from the stockpile to the waste pile at a time, only the top card of the waste pile is playable. Similarly, cards that are facedown in your reserve pile are not playable until they are turned over as the topmost card. These face-up cards can be moved to the tableau or placed on foundation piles.

Build Sequences in Descending Order and Alternating Colors

Sequences you build on the tableau must be in descending order (five, four, three) and alternating colors (black/red). Similar to the foundation piles, they can also wrap. For example, if your sequence starts with a jack of spades, the next card must be either a ten of diamonds or a ten of hearts. If your sequence ends in a two of clubs and an ace of hearts, you can continue building on that sequence with either a king of spades or a king of clubs.

Sequences in the tableau can be moved, as long as the move follows the descending order and alternating colors rule. For example, if you have a sequence that begins with a red eight, you can move the sequence on top of a black nine. You have no limit to how long of a sequence you build.

Empty Tableau Columns Are Filled with Reserve Cards First

Your top reserve card is the only card that can fill empty tableau columns until all reserve cards are gone. You can also play reserve cards on foundation piles and tableau sequences. Once all of your reserve cards have been played, you can then play any cards from your waste pile, foundation piles, or other tableau columns in an empty space.

Use Stockpile Cards if You Get Stuck

If you run out of moves, flip over three cards from your stockpile onto the waste pile to put more cards into play. You can use the top card from the waste pile to play on sequences or on foundation piles, and if you use the top card, the next face-up card becomes a playable card.

You can cycle through the stockpile as many times as you want. When the entire stockpile has been discarded into the waste pile, simply flip it over, making it the stockpile once again, and continue to use it as needed to flip cards into the waste pile.

Winning Canfield Solitaire Strategies

Canfield is a difficult Solitaire variation due to a limited tableau and hidden cards in the reserve, but these strategies will improve your chances of winning.

Run Through Your Stockpile Before Making Any Moves

Only the stockpile and reserve have hidden cards, and cycling through the stockpile helps you figure out which 32 cards are in your stockpile and which 12 cards remain hidden in your reserve pile. Knowing where these cards are helps you to develop a plan to free hidden base cards and other cards that may block movement on the tableau.

For example, if the first base card is a jack of hearts and you see the jack of spades on the tableau, cycle through your stockpile before making any moves. If you discover that the jack of clubs is in the stockpile, you now know the final jack— the jack of diamonds—must be buried in your reserve pile. Then you can figure out how to free the jack in the stockpile, if it’s not already accessible, and focus on using your reserve to find the final base card you need.

Prioritize Removing Cards from the Reserve Pile

Although you may have figured out what cards are in the reserve pile, you still don’t know in what order they appear. So prioritize playing cards from your reserve pile over any other piles so you can put all the cards into play.

Because the reserve pile fills empty columns, building sequences that empty columns on the tableau help you deplete this pile faster. Whenever the tableau changes and before you move any other card, consider whether the reserve card can be used instead.

For example, if you have a red four as your reserve card and play a black five from the waste pile onto a red six in the tableau, you’ve changed the tableau. So even if a red four is the next card in the waste pile, you’re better off playing the reserve card instead. Playing the reserve card reveals the next hidden card in that pile and further reduces the number of cards in the pile.

Keep Your Base Cards in Mind When Building Sequences

Prioritize placing your base cards on the foundation piles over building tableau sequences to avoid burying cards you’ll need. Once base cards are in place, start building sequences with the last card needed for your foundation piles to uncover more cards.

The sooner you get your base cards in place, the sooner you can start building sequences on the tableau without worrying about burying a card you’ll soon need for your foundation piles. For example, if your base card is a nine and you have two tableau columns starting with tens, you will get stuck building your foundation piles pretty quickly if those tens get buried. You would be unable to move anything to your foundation piles if you built sequences before moving those tens to your foundation piles.

Delay Moves from the Waste Pile

Only every third card from your waste pile can be played. Therefore, it may be necessary to delay an immediate play during a cycle through your stockpile to make sure another—more strategic—card is available during the next cycle.

Because you flip cards over in groups of three, every third card becomes available. But if you play the top card, then on the next cycle through the stockpile, the cards shift back by one. If you play two, they shift back by two.

If you play a top card and know that the bottom card of the next three is the base card you’ve been waiting on, you might delay using any more cards in that cycle so you can refresh the stockpile and access that base card. You should only delay playing a card from your waste pile if it will preserve the position of a more timely or strategic card you need.

Build Foundation Piles Evenly

Building your foundation piles evenly will help you avoid getting stuck and unable to play on the tableau. Because sequences on the tableau must alternate in color, you’ll need cards from multiple suits to keep things moving. If you build one foundation pile up with much higher ranking cards than the others, you can quickly get grid-locked on the tableau because you have limited options for the alternate card colors you need. For this strategy, try to only build up your foundation piles one rank at a time.

For example, premature completion of a spades foundation pile, while needing stock cards for other piles, restricts black cards on your tableau to a single suit – clubs. You then will be stuck trying to build four alternating colored sequences with double the amount of red cards than black cards, which quickly becomes impossible.

Explore More Solitaire Variations

The great thing about Solitaire is there are many variations, each with unique challenges and varying levels of difficulty. So, if you don’t feel like you’re quite up for the challenge of facing the “demon” of Canfield, there are a lot of other great Solitaire games to choose from.

• Solitaire Turn 3: If you like the idea of Canfield but want something slightly less challenging, Solitaire Turn 3 is a great option for you. You still must clear the tableau to win, but it has more columns in the tableau, no reserve pile, and foundation piles that start with an ace so it’s much easier to access playable cards.
• Spider Solitaire: Spider uses two decks of cards, and you can increase the difficulty level by playing with one, two, or four suits. You must clear the tableau by building descending sequences of the same suit within the tableau and then moving them to foundation piles. But using the stockpile requires you to deal one card directly onto the bottom of each tableau column, which can block sequences you’re trying to build.
• FreeCell: Freecell has a much higher win rate than most Solitaire games because all cards are dealt face-up into eight columns at the start of the game, with no hidden cards or stock pile. Players can use four free cells to temporarily move cards and create space for moves on the tableau, with the number of cards that can be moved determined by available free cells. Similar to other Solitaire games, the goal is to organize cards into foundation piles by suit.
• Pyramid: Named after the unique shape the cards make on the tableau, Pyramid is another difficult Solitaire variation. It has just one foundation pile and the object of the game is to make pairs of cards that add up to 13, which are then discarded in the foundation pile. You do have a stock pile in Pyramid, which is dealt one at a time similar to Solitaire 1.

Practice Winning Canfield Solitaire Strategies Online

Jump into playing Canfield without even needing to grab a deck of cards. Our free online Canfield game will help you practice your skills and flex your strategies without having to download or sign up for anything.