La Belle Lucie
La Belle Lucie (The Fan) - Classic Solitaire Guide
La Belle Lucie (also known as The Fan) is one of the classic, highly respected patience card games. Played with a single 52-card deck, it is famous for a paradox: because every card is dealt face-up from the very beginning, it looks entirely solvable. However, strict movement rules and tight constraints give it a low win rate (roughly 10%), making it a true test of careful planning and forward-thinking strategy.
🃏 Game Setup & Layout
- The Deck: A standard 52-card deck with no jokers.
- The Tableau (Fans): All 52 cards are dealt face-up into 18 fans.
- Seventeen fans contain 3 cards each (fanned slightly so every card in the trio is visible).
- One remaining fan contains just 1 single card.
- The Foundations: Four empty foundation spaces designated for the four suits. Your goal is to build these up from Ace to King by suit (Ace, 2, 3... through King).
🕹️ Core Rules & Mechanics
- Playable Cards: Only the outermost (top) card of each fan can be moved. Any card buried underneath other cards is completely locked until the cards covering it are cleared.
- Moving to Foundations: Any Ace exposed on top of a fan can be immediately moved to the foundations. Subsequent cards of the same suit are built on top in ascending order.
- Building Within the Tableau: You can move an outermost card onto the outermost card of another fan only if it is the same suit and exactly one rank higher (e.g., placing the 6 of Hearts onto the 7 of Hearts).
- No Empty Space Refills: If you completely clear all cards out of a fan, that space disappears permanently—empty table slots cannot be filled by other cards.
- Redeals: When you run out of legal moves, you are allowed up to two redeals. Gather all cards still remaining in the tableau fans (do not touch the cards already safely built on the foundations), shuffle them thoroughly, and redeal them into fans of three (with any remainder forming the final short fan).
💡 Strategy & Expert Tips
- Survey Before You Move: Because every card is visible from the start, study the entire board before making your first play. Trace dependencies—figure out which cards are blocking the Aces and lower-value cards you need to free up.
- Mind the Kings: Kings are structural dead-ends because no card can be built on top of a King in this game's matching format. Any card trapped underneath a King is permanently stuck for that deal cycle. Factor this in before building cards onto lower-ranking targets.
- Don't Chase Empty Fans: Because empty spaces vanish and cannot be refilled, clearing out a fan entirely gives you no structural advantage. Focus purely on unearthing key cards rather than trying to empty spaces.
- Synchronize Your Foundation Building: Try not to let one suit race too far ahead if its supporting lower cards are locked away. Keep an eye on the tableau to ensure you can actually reach the matching 2s, 3s, and 4s.
📊 Technical Specifications
| Feature / Attribute | Specification Details |
|---|---|
| Game Genre | Fan Solitaire / Card Puzzle / Casual HTML5 |
| Platform | Web Browser (Desktop, Mobile, Tablet) |
| Supported Devices | PC, Mac, Chromebook, iPad, iPhone, Android |
| Control Scheme | Mouse Click-and-Drag / Touchscreen Taps |
| Installation Requirement | None (Direct In-Browser Play) |
| Monetization | 100% Free, Unblocked Web Gaming |
La Belle Lucie
Reviewed by Games Forge
on
August 03, 2026
Rating:
Reviewed by Games Forge
on
August 03, 2026
Rating:
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