The rules of the Baker's Game
In brief
All 52 cards are visible. You move them one at a time between 8 columns, 4 free cells and 4 foundations. In a column, a card is placed on the card of the same suit and one rank higher. You win when all the cards have been moved up to the foundations, from ace to king, suit by suit.
The setup
A 52-card deck, without jokers, is shuffled and then dealt face up into 8 columns of 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, 6 cards. Above the tableau are 4 free cells, empty at the start, and 4 foundations, one per suit: spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs.
Allowed moves
You always move the top card of a column (the last one, the one not covered by any other) or a card from a free cell.
- Onto a column: the card must be of the same suit and exactly one rank lower. The 7 of hearts goes only on the 8 of hearts, never on the 8 of diamonds or on a black 8. This is the rule that sets the Baker's Game apart from FreeCell, where you alternate red and black.
- Into a free cell: any card, if the cell is empty. A free cell holds only one card.
- Onto a foundation: the ace of the suit first, then the 2, the 3 and so on up to the king, always in the same suit and one card at a time.
- Onto an empty column: any card, or an entire sequence (see below).
Rank goes from ace (the lowest) to king: ace, 2 to 10, jack, queen, king.
Moving a group
A sequence already arranged in a column (same suit, consecutive ranks, for example the 9, 8 and 7 of clubs) can be moved as a block. This is only a shortcut: it amounts to taking it apart card by card using the free cells and empty columns, then rebuilding it. The maximum group size is therefore calculated as follows:
(free cells + 1) × 2 to the power of (empty columns)
An empty column doubles the capacity, while a free cell only adds one card. When the group goes into an empty column, that destination column doesn't count: you can't use it as a relay to move toward itself.
| Free cells | To an occupied column, 0 empty columns | To an occupied column, 1 empty column | To an occupied column, 2 empty columns | To an empty column, 1 empty in total | To an empty column, 2 empty in total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 8 |
| 4 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 5 | 10 |
Example: with 4 free cells and one empty column, you can move up to 10 cards to an occupied column, but only 5 to the empty column. The Examples page shows this case in a real game.
The end of the game
The game is won when all 52 cards are on the foundations. In practice, it is lost when no useful move is possible anymore: you then have to undo moves or start over.
What the app adds
These points are specific to the Jeu du Boulanger - Solitaire app; other versions of the game do things differently.
- Number of cells: 4, 2 or 1, chosen in the New game window. Removed cells disappear from the board and no longer count toward the size of groups.
- No automatic move to foundations: no card goes to the foundations on its own. A single tap on a top card sends it there when allowed; you can also drag it.
- Double tap: the app first looks for a foundation, then the longest column that accepts the card, then an empty column, then a free cell.
- Permanent foundations: a card placed on a foundation does not come back out; only undoing the move takes it back.
- Undo: the last 100 actions.
- Game code: each deal has a code (for example BK1-C4-AAAAA24) that reproduces it exactly. See the FAQ.
Scoring in the app
| Move | Points |
|---|---|
| A card placed on a foundation | +10 |
| A card from a cell placed on the tableau | +5 |
| Any other move | 0 |
Undoing a move removes the points it earned, and the score never goes below zero.