La Belle Lucie Solitaire 🎴

La Belle Lucie Solitaire 🃏 is a fun fan-style patience (solitaire) card game where the goal is to build all the cards into four foundation piles. In this classic solitaire game, the entire deck is dealt face-up into 17 piles (fans) of three cards each, with one leftover card forming the 18th pile. The layout looks pretty, but don’t let it fool you – every move counts, and this game is famously tricky to win 😅. Think of it as a gorgeous puzzle of cards!

How to Play 🎮

Playing La Belle Lucie is easy to set up. Just follow these simple steps:

Deal the cards: Shuffle a standard 52-card deck and deal all cards face-up into 17 piles of 3 cards each (called fans). The last card is placed alone as an 18th pile.
Build the foundations: Whenever you see any Aces, move them to the empty foundation piles. Then build each foundation up by suit from Ace all the way to King (for example, place 2♦ on A♦, then 3♦ on 2♦, etc.).
Build on the tableau: On the 17 fans, you may only move the top card of each pile. Stack cards down by suit on the fans (for example, put 7♣ onto 8♣).
Empty fans: Once a pile becomes empty, it stays empty – you cannot refill it with any card.
Redeals: If you get stuck (no more moves), gather all cards from the tableau, shuffle them together, and redeal into 17 piles of 3 (and one leftover) again. You are allowed only two such redeals.
Winning: The game is won when all cards have been moved to the foundation piles.

Rules

Tableau layout: 17 fans of 3 cards each + 1 fan of the leftover card. All cards are face-up so nothing is hidden.
Moving cards: Only the top card of each fan may be moved.
Foundation building: Aces start the foundations. Build each foundation up by suit from Ace to King.
Tableau building: On the fans, build down by suit (same suit, descending rank). For example, you can place a 6♥ on a 7♥.
Empty piles: Empty fans cannot be refilled once cleared – so use caution before moving the last card of a pile.
Redeals: When no more moves are possible, you may gather and shuffle the tableau and redeal into fans again. Only two redeals are allowed (after the second redeal, the game ends if you’re still stuck).
Objective: Move all cards to the four foundation piles to win.

History 📜

La Belle Lucie has a long and elegant history. It originated in France (the name means “Beautiful Lucy”) and was first recorded in English by Lady Adelaide Cadogan in 1870. Cadogan’s book Illustrated Games of Patience introduced La Belle Lucie to British players of the Victorian era. Over time the game has earned nicknames like “Lovely Lucy,” “The Fan,” and even “Midnight Oil”, but the rules have remained largely the same. Today it’s celebrated as a charming classic solitaire game that still puzzles and delights players after more than a century.

Tips & Tricks 💡

Plan ahead: Since all cards are face-up from the start, take a moment to study the layout before your first move. Look for which piles block others.
Move Aces quickly: As soon as an Ace (or any low card) can go to a foundation, move it there. Freeing Aces early opens up the play area.
Safe building: It’s generally safe to place a card onto a pile that has only one card, or onto a sequence of the same suit. These moves won’t trap many cards underneath.
Watch empty piles: Remember that once a pile is cleared it stays empty, so avoid emptying a pile unless you really need to (for example, to move that card to a foundation).
Mind the Kings: Early in the game kings can’t move (except to foundations). A good strategy is to build Queens and Jacks onto Kings when possible, so you eventually clear the kings to foundations.
Use redeals wisely: You only get two shuffles/redeals, so try different moves on each deal. On the final redeal you even get one special “free move” slot for a king or any card. If you can’t win on the second redeal, it’s time to shuffle again and try another approach. Patience is key – with practice, your win rate will improve!

Play La Belle Lucie Online 🎲

Ready to try it yourself? You can play La Belle Lucie Solitaire directly on SolitaireX – no downloads or apps needed! Just visit solitairex.io/la-belle-lucie-solitaire and start playing instantly. 🕹️ If you enjoy La Belle Lucie, be sure to check out the full collection of classic solitaire games on SolitaireX at solitairex.io for hours of card-game fun. Happy shuffling!