How to play Canfield

Canfield is one of the classic patience games, famous from the gambling house of Richard Canfield and known in Britain as Demon. Its twist is the foundations: they don't start with the Aces. One card is dealt to the first foundation at the start, and its rank becomes the starting rank for all four suits - if it is a 7, every foundation begins with a 7 and climbs through the King and Ace up to the 6.

Next to the four short columns lies the reserve, a pile of thirteen cards of which only the top one is in play. Emptying the reserve is the heart of the game: once its cards are out, the deal usually comes out too.

How to play on skill.games

When you open the game, the settings popup appears. Choose a level - Easy, Normal or Hard (3 passes) - and how many cards to draw from the stock: 3 cards (the classic game) or 1 card. Check your record and press PLAY. Your statistics are kept for each level and draw setting separately.

• Moving a card: tap it and it goes to the best place it can: a foundation if that is safe, otherwise onto a column where it fits. Tap the same card twice quickly to send it straight to its foundation.
• Dragging: drag a card and drop it where you want it. From a column you can drag its last card alone, or the whole column at once by its first card. A move that isn't allowed is refused: the cards shake and slide back.
• The stock: tap the face-down stock to turn cards onto the waste beside it. When it is empty, tap its place to turn the waste back over.
• Undo: the UNDO button at the top takes back your last move, as many times as you like, all the way back to the deal.
• The score line at the top shows your moves, the time and your score.

Empty foundations show the rank they start from. When the stock, the waste and the reserve are all used up, the game plays the rest to the foundations for you where it can. A won deal ends in a cascade of cards, and the results screen shows your moves, time and final score with your statistics: wins, losses, win rate and streaks.

The menu button in the top-left corner pauses the game, starts a new deal or turns the sound off. The "?" button opens this guide. The deal is saved after every move, so you can close the page and press CONTINUE next time - even your undo history comes back. A deal you abandon by starting a new one counts as a loss at its level.

Rules

The layout. Thirteen cards are dealt to the reserve, and only its top card is face up. One card is dealt face up to the first foundation. Four cards are dealt face up to start four columns. The other 34 cards form the stock.

The foundations. The first foundation card sets the base rank. The other three foundations must each be started with a card of that same rank. Every foundation is built up in its own suit, turning the corner from King to Ace when it gets there: with a base of 7, the hearts go 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2 and so on up to 6. Cards never come back off a foundation.

The columns. A card can go on a column's last card if it is one rank lower and the opposite colour. Ranks wrap here too: a King may be placed on an Ace. You may move a column's last card on its own, or move the whole column as one unit onto another column - but never only part of a column.

The reserve. Its top card can be played to a foundation or a column. When a column becomes empty, it is filled at once with the reserve's top card, and the next reserve card turns face up.

Empty columns without a reserve. Once the reserve is used up, an empty column stays empty until you fill it with the top card of the waste, whenever you like.

The stock and the waste. Tapping the stock turns three cards (or one, if you chose draw 1) onto the waste; only the waste's top card can be played. When the stock runs out, the waste is turned over to become the stock again, in the same order. On Easy and Normal you can go through the stock as often as you like; on Hard you have three passes in all.

Scoring. Each card you send to a foundation scores 10 points. Every 30 seconds of play costs 30 points, although your score never drops below zero. When you win, a time bonus of 600,000 divided by the seconds you took is added. Undoing a move takes its points back, and an undo counts as a move.

Winning. You win when all four foundations hold their thirteen cards.

Strategy tips

• Empty the reserve. Play reserve cards whenever you can, to a foundation or onto a column. Each one played uncovers another, and a reserve that stays full is the most common way to lose.
• Make room for the reserve. Since an empty column is refilled from the reserve, moving a whole column onto another one is a free way to bring a new reserve card into play.
• Count from the base. Keep the base rank in mind: with a base of Jack, a Jack is the "Ace" of every suit and a 10 is the last card. The cards just above the base are the ones you want first.
• Use the waste carefully with draw 3. Only every third card is in reach on a pass. Playing a card from the waste shifts which cards come up next time, so one play can open up a whole new set.
• Keep cards in the columns when they help. A card sent to its foundation can never come back. If it is still useful as a place to build on, it can wait.

Difficulty levels

• Easy: every deal is one our computer player has already solved with the draw setting you chose, so each Easy game can be won, and you may go through the stock as often as you like.
• Normal: a random deal with unlimited passes through the stock - the classic game. Many deals are lost to a blocked reserve, so expect to lose some.
• Hard (3 passes): a random deal with only three passes through the stock. Every turn of the waste counts, and only well-planned games come out - especially with draw 3.

Draw 3 or draw 1. Draw 3 is the traditional game and much harder; draw 1 brings every stock card within reach on every pass.