Fan
How to Play Box Fan Solitaire
A no-stock variant where all cards are dealt at the start across 16 fan piles, and you build by alternating colors to empty piles only by Kings. The goal: Move all 52 cards to the four foundations to win.
Setup
- Aces of each suit are dealt to the foundation piles
- All remaining 48 cards are dealt across 16 fan tableau piles (3 cards per pile)
- Each tableau pile shows all its cards, but only the top card is playable
How to play
- Build each foundation up by suit from Ace to King
- On the tableau, build downward by alternating colors (red Queen on black King, etc.)
- Only the top card of each tableau pile can be moved
- Empty tableau piles accept only a King
- Eligible cards move to the foundations on their own once no other card could be played on them; you can change this behavior in Settings if you prefer
How to win
Objective: Move all 52 cards to the four foundations to win.
You win when all 52 cards reach the foundations. With no stock to help, careful planning is essential.
Tips
- Kings are crucial—use them wisely to create space on the tableau
- Look ahead to expose buried cards you need for the foundations
- Build long sequences when possible to open up multiple piles at once
Play Box Fan free on Windows
CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Box Fan 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 Fan family:
- Sixteen Piles — An unusual puzzle where you stack cards of matching rank to uncover buried cards.
- Ceiling Fan — A single-deck Fan-family game that spreads all 52 cards face up across 18 tableau piles and builds down by alternating color, making for a more open layout than standard Fan.
- Fan — A one-deck game with 18 tableau piles arranged in a fan pattern where only Kings can fill empty spaces and the entire deck is dealt at once.
The tool for this — Game Gallery
Every game in one library: Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid, Golf, Yukon and three hundred more. Each one shows a preview of its opening deal and how often you've played and won it. Learn more about the Game Gallery.
Windows 10/11 (x64) · Free · No account