The rules of Canfield

Setup

A 52-card deck, without jokers, is shuffled. The app deals in this order: 13 cards stacked for the reserve, then one card, the base card, on the first foundation, then one face-up card on each of the 4 columns. The remaining 34 cards form the stock, face down. The waste pile and the other three foundations are empty.

The reserve

Only the top card of the reserve can be played, onto a foundation or a column; the next card then becomes playable. You never place a card on the reserve. The app shows the number of cards remaining below the reserve.

When a move empties a column, the app fills it immediately with the top card of the reserve. When the reserve is empty, an empty column stays empty, and can then accept any card or sequence.

Foundations and the starting rank

The rank of the base card is the starting rank of all four foundations. Each foundation takes a single suit: the first takes the suit of the base card, and each of the other three takes one of the remaining suits. An empty foundation only accepts the card of the starting rank of its suit; after that, you build up one rank at a time, and after the king comes the ace. A complete foundation holds 13 cards.

In the deal CF1-D3-AAAAACL, the base card is the 7 of hearts: each foundation runs from 7 to king, then from ace to 6. The ace of spades in column 4 therefore can't start the spades foundation: only the 7 of spades can (the example).

The columns

• On a column: a card goes on a card of the opposite color (red on black, black on red) that is exactly one rank higher. A 6 of hearts goes on a 7 of spades or clubs.
• From ace to king: a king goes on an ace of the other color. Ranks wrap around: king, queen, jack, …, 2, ace, then king again.
• A sequence as one block: any sequence of alternating-color, descending cards moves as one block, either the whole column or just its end.
• All cards are face up: there are no hidden cards in the columns.

On the third move of the won game, the king of hearts, with the queen of clubs placed on it, goes on the ace of spades: column 2 empties and the reserve fills it with the Q♠.

The stock and recycling

Tap the stock to turn cards over onto the waste pile. The app offers two ways to draw, which you choose in the New game window:

• Draw 3 ("3 cards", "Hard"): three cards at a time, fanned out on the waste pile; only the last one can be played, and the next one becomes available once you've played it. This is the default setting.
• Draw 1 ("1 card", "Easy"): one card at a time; each card in the stock can be played in turn.

When the stock is empty, one tap puts the whole waste pile back into the stock, face down, and you start over. There is no limit to the number of passes and no penalty. Only the top card of the waste pile can be played, on a foundation or a column.

The end of the game

The game is won when all 4 foundations hold 13 cards each. The app doesn't declare a loss: when no useful move is left, you undo moves or start a new game.

What the app adds

These points are specific to the Canfield Solitaire app; other versions of the game do things differently.

• Tapping a card: the app sends it to its foundation when possible. Otherwise, with the "Double click" setting (on by default), it looks for a spot for it on a column: the longest one that accepts it, then an empty column. You can also drag the cards.
• No automatic moves: no card goes to the foundations by itself, and the game doesn't finish on its own. Only filling an empty column from the reserve is automatic.
• Taking back from a foundation: the top card of a foundation can be dragged back and placed on a column, without losing points.
• Undo: the last 100 actions; undoing removes the points from the undone move.
• Game code: every deal has a code (for example CF1-D3-AAAAACL) that reproduces it identically, including its stock. See the FAQ.

Scoring in the app

The score starts at 0 and never goes below 0. The base card is already in place: 51 cards remain to be placed, so any game won without taking a card back from a foundation ends at 51 × 5 = 255 points. This scoring follows the casino version described by Wikipedia: the player paid 52 dollars for the deck and received 5 dollars for each card placed on a foundation.