Play Baker's Dozen Online
Baker's Dozen is a quiet-looking patience game with one rule that shapes every deal. When a tableau column is empty, it stays empty. You start with 13 open columns and all 52 cards in view, so there is nothing to uncover. On every turn, the decision is which exposed card should leave the table first.
The tableau builds downward by rank without caring about suit or color. That makes short moves easy to find, but the no-refill rule makes every cleared column final. If you enjoy the open information in FreeCell but want a table with no holding cells, Baker's Dozen is the cleanest place to start.
The Board
The deal creates 13 columns of 4 cards. Any King is placed at the back of its column, so no King starts on top of a lower card. There are no free cells and no stock pile, and every card you need is already on the table.
How Cards Build
Any 7 can move onto any 8. Suit and color do not matter inside the tableau. Foundations still build by suit from Ace to King, so the relaxed tableau rule is balanced by careful foundation timing.
Why Empty Columns Matter
A cleared column cannot be used again. Before removing the last card from a column, ask whether the move helps a foundation or just leaves you with one column fewer.
Clearing a Column Is a Commitment
In many Solitaire games, an empty column is a useful parking place. Here it is gone for good, so patient foundation work usually beats quick tableau shuffling. Move Aces and low cards home when they free useful follow-up cards, and avoid clearing a column just because the last card can go.
If you want the same 13-column table with refillable spaces, try Spanish Patience. It keeps the broad layout but changes the pressure around empty columns.
Reading a Deal
Nothing is hidden in Baker's Dozen, so a game turns on the order you choose rather than the luck of a draw. Look first for the Aces and low pips sitting near the back of the columns. Those are the cards a foundation needs to start, and whatever rests on top of them is the work you have to clear, in sequence, to set them free.
Make tableau moves to reach a lower card or to help a foundation. Tidying the table for its own sake rarely pays. When 2 plays look equal, take the one that lets a suit climb. The Baker's Dozen guide walks through the play order in more depth and covers the 3 cousins that each change one rule.
Quick Baker's Dozen Answers
Why are the Kings dealt to the back of each column?
It is the standard Baker's Dozen layout. Tucking every King behind the rest of its column stops it from covering the low cards you need to reach, which is what keeps the deal playable.
Do suits matter when you build?
Not in the columns. A card drops onto any card one rank above it, whatever the suit or color. Suits count only on the foundations, where each one is stacked in order starting from its Ace.
Can you move more than one card at once?
No. Baker's Dozen moves one card at a time. Even a descending sequence has to be taken apart from its exposed end, with a legal destination for each card along the way.
Can every Baker's Dozen deal be won?
Every Winnable deal can be. Each one has a known solution from the opening, while a Random deal may have none. If you get stuck, Is it winnable? shows whether your current position can still be finished. A signed-in win without hints or undo goes on the Baker's Dozen leaderboard.