How to Play Beleaguered Castle Solitaire

The four aces begin already on the foundations, and the rest of the deck sits face up across eight tableau piles. You move one card at a time, stacking each a rank lower than the last no matter its suit, so it's really a puzzle of sequencing and patience.

Setup

1. Four aces are dealt to the foundations at the start.
2. The tableau has eight piles of six cards each, all face up.
3. No stock or waste pile; all cards begin on the table.

How to play

• Build foundations up from Ace to King in the same suit.
• In the tableau, place a card one rank lower (any suit) on top of another card.
• Only the top card of each tableau pile can be moved.
• When a tableau pile empties, any card can fill it.
• Matching cards automatically move to the foundations once no other card can be built on them—you can change this in Settings.

How to win

Objective: Build all four foundation piles from Ace to King in their suit.

You win when all cards are on the foundations. You're stuck when no legal moves remain.

Tips

• Since only single cards move, create empty tableau piles to maneuver cards around.
• Look for opportunities to expose cards buried beneath others in the tableau.
• Build foundation piles evenly rather than focusing on one suit—it keeps more cards accessible.

Play Beleaguered Castle free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Beleaguered Castle alongside 300+ other games. It saves every move as you play, so you can close the window and pick the game up later, replay any deal, and take on a new Daily Challenge deal every day. Browse every game in the Game Gallery.

Related games

More games from the Beleaguered Castle family:

• Fortress — A rare game where the tableau allows bi-directional building—each pile can grow either higher or lower in the same suit, offering strategic flexibility but also considerable challenge.
• Street and Alleys — A fan-style game where all cards are dealt at the start with no stock pile.
• Castle's End — A flexible game where the foundation base rank changes each deal, and tableau cards can build either up or down in the same suit, creating unique strategic puzzles.