How to Play Penguin Solitaire
Everything in Penguin starts with the first card dealt, called the beak. Its rank is where all 4 foundations begin, and it also decides which rank may enter an empty column. The other three cards of that rank start on the foundations. The beak itself is dealt first, so it starts column 1 and the other 6 cards of that column are dealt over it. It cannot move until they have gone.
David Parlett invented the game and named it after the book he was writing at the time, The Penguin Book of Patience, published in 1979. The beak and the flippers are penguin imagery to match. Penguin Solitaire here uses a single 52-card deck, 7 tableau columns and 7 single-card flippers, and every card is visible from the start.
Deal 7 columns and find the beak
Turn over the first card and make it the first card of column 1. This is the beak. Find the other three cards of the same rank and place them on 3 foundation spaces. Deal the remaining cards face up, left to right, until each of the 7 columns holds 7 cards. The 7 flippers above the tableau start empty.
The beak stays in the tableau until it becomes playable. It does not begin a foundation by itself. If the beak is the 8 of hearts, for example, the other three 8s begin their foundations and the hearts foundation stays empty. The 8 of hearts has to work its way out of column 1 and start the fourth pile.
Build the foundations up from the beak rank
Each foundation holds one suit and builds upward by rank. Begin with the beak rank, then continue to the next higher card. The order wraps after the King. If the beak is a 10, a completed foundation reads 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, 2 and continues through 9. If the beak is an Ace, the familiar Ace-to-King order applies.
Only an exposed card can move to a foundation. A buried card cannot jump past the cards covering it, even when its foundation is waiting. Cards go up one at a time, so a tableau packet never moves to a foundation as a group. You win when all 4 foundations hold 13 cards.
Build tableau cards down in the same suit
A tableau card may land on the next higher rank of the same suit. The order descends and wraps from Ace to King. A 6 of clubs may therefore move onto the 7 of clubs, and the King of clubs may move onto the Ace of clubs. A card of the right rank in another suit is not a legal destination.
Color means nothing here. Players coming from FreeCell tend to look for red-on-black pairs out of habit. In Penguin a heart builds only on another heart, and a club only on another club.
Move a whole same-suit packet at once
A group may move when every card in it follows the same descending suit sequence. Pick up the highest card of the packet and every card lying over it comes along. Unlike FreeCell, there is no formula based on empty flippers or vacant columns. A legal packet can move as a unit even when all 7 flippers are occupied.
The sequence must be unbroken from its lead card to its last card. If a club interrupts a heart run, the hearts on either side of that club are separate pieces. Move the club away or rebuild the suit before you try a group move.
Each flipper holds one card
A flipper holds one card from the exposed end of a tableau column. A card in a flipper may move back to a legal tableau destination or onto its foundation. Cards cannot stack inside a flipper, and a multi-card packet cannot be parked there.
With 7 spaces, it is tempting to fill several at once. Before lifting a card, find the move that brings it back. A flipper used to expose a card that can go straight to its foundation has a clear purpose. A card parked simply because the space is open may sit there while the useful cards in another column stay blocked.
Fill an empty column with the rank below the beak
When a tableau column is cleared, only the rank immediately below the beak may enter it. A suited packet can go in too, as long as it starts with that rank. With a 9 beak, the column begins with an 8. With a 2 beak, it begins with an Ace. With an Ace beak, the cycle wraps and the required card is a King.
Any suit will do for the lead card, so any of the 4 cards of that rank may start the new column. If none of them is free yet, leave the column empty and work toward one. No other card may go into the space.
Your first look at a Penguin deal
- Read the beak rank and work out the rank that can fill an empty column.
- Look for exposed cards that extend any of the 4 foundations.
- Find same-suit joins that turn separate cards into a movable packet.
- Use a flipper only when the move exposes something useful or the card has a clear way back.
- Before clearing a column, locate at least one card that is allowed to refill it.
Playable does not always mean ready. A tableau card is the landing spot for the next lower card of its suit, with a King landing on an Ace at the wrap. Before you send a card home, check whether a packet still needs it and whether that packet has anywhere else to go.
Late in the game
Late positions usually have fewer columns but longer suited packets. At that stage, compare the foundation tops before committing a long group to a new column. Moving 6 cards at once is easy under Penguin's packet rule. Moving them back may be impossible if the card they came off has already gone to a foundation.
The foundations do not have to stay level, but a suit that falls far behind can hold up the ranks the others need. Keep an eye on which suit the next buried card belongs to.
Common questions
Why is the first card called the beak?
Because David Parlett, who invented Penguin, named the game after his book The Penguin Book of Patience and named its parts to fit: the first card is the beak and the 7 spare cells are the flippers. The name is only a picture. In play, the beak's rank sets where every foundation starts and which rank may fill an empty column.
Can a King go on an Ace in the tableau?
Yes, when both cards share a suit. Tableau ranks wrap from Ace down to King.
Do empty flippers limit how many cards can move together?
No. Any complete descending same-suit packet may move as a unit. Flippers hold single cards but have no say in packet length.
Can any card fill an empty column?
No. Only the rank immediately below the beak may start an empty column. A suited run can go in too, as long as it starts with that rank.
Is every card visible at the start?
Yes. Penguin has no face-down tableau cards and no stock. The 49 tableau cards and 3 starting foundation cards make up the full deck.
Can every Penguin deal be won?
Almost every one. Mark Masten's computer analysis of 50 million deals found 99.94% of them winnable (as cited on Wikipedia). Every Winnable deal on the site has a known solution, so a stuck game usually means an earlier choice went wrong. How we check that a deal can be won.
For more open games with same-suit building, see the FreeCell variants. If the shifting foundation rank is what you enjoy, Canfield uses a similar rank cycle with a reserve and Draw 3 stock.