Play Tuxedo Solitaire Online — Penguin Without the Beak

Tuxedo is the board Penguin was built on, played straight. Seven columns of seven and eight cards are dealt face up over seven free cells, and nothing is founded before play: the four foundations start empty at the ace. The tableau builds down in suit and wraps — a king may be placed on an ace — a packed run travels under the max-movable rule, and an empty column takes any card. Seven cells make it one of the most generous boards in the family; the suit build is what keeps it honest.

Setup

• Tableau: seven columns — eight, seven, seven, eight, seven, seven and eight cards — every one face up.
• Cells: seven, empty. Each holds one card.
• Foundations: four empty piles, one per suit, built up from ace to king.
• No stock and no waste. All 52 cards are in the columns.

Rules

• The tableau builds down in suit — the 7♠ goes on the 8♠ — and wraps: a king may be placed on an ace of its suit.
• A packed suit run moves as a unit, limited by the free cells and empty columns: (cells + 1) × 2 to the power of empty columns.
• Any single card may be moved to an empty cell, and back to the tableau when it has a host.
• An empty column takes any card.
• Foundations build up in suit from the ace and are one-way.

Strategy

Seven cells is a lot of storage, so dig deep. With eight cards of storage counting one empty column, you can lift most of a column in one plan. Use that to reach the aces early; in a suit build nothing banks until they are out.

Wrapping is a lifeline for kings. A king normally has no host. Here a king may sit on an ace of its suit, which turns a stranded ace into a place to park the one card that otherwise needs a space.

Suit runs are the only runs. A column packed in one suit moves as a unit; a column of mixed suits does not move at all. Build on the suit even when a nearer host of another suit is tempting — it never is, because the rule does not allow it.

Keep two cells free. The max-movable rule shrinks as cells fill, and a full cell row turns a comfortable board into single-card play. Two free cells keep a three-card run mobile.

Where It Sits in the FreeCell Family

The FreeCell family is the open, cell-based line of patience, and Tuxedo is the parent of Penguin. Penguin adds the beak: the first card dealt sets the base rank, its three rank-mates are founded before play, and a space takes only the rank below. Tuxedo has none of that — ordinary ace-up foundations, open spaces, and the same seven cells and wrapping suit build. It is the simpler game, and the one that shows what the seven-cell board is like before Penguin's rules are laid on it.

Other Games to Try

• Penguin — the same board with the beak
• Baker's Game — the suit build with four cells on eight columns
• Eight Off — the suit build with eight cells
• FreeCell — the alternating-colour original

About This Version

Tuxedo runs in your browser — free, no download, no sign-up. Install it as an app on your phone or computer and it works offline. You get unlimited undo, a hint button that names a legal move, statistics that track your wins and times, and seeded deals: every game has a seed you can replay, so a board you enjoyed (or lost) can be played again exactly.