La Belle Lucie
Cards · 1 playLa Belle Lucie
The elegant fan patience — free the cards from 18 fans and build every suit from Ace to King.
About La Belle Lucie
A graceful old patience, sometimes simply called the Fan, with the whole deck laid out face-up in 18 little fans of three (the last fan holds just one). Only the top card of each fan can move. Build the four foundations up by suit from Ace to King, and on the fans build down in the same suit — the 7♠ onto the 8♠. An emptied fan stays empty for good, so every move deserves a little thought. When you are stuck, two redeals gather up the unplayed cards and shuffle them into fresh fans of three, and after the last redeal comes the merci: pull any one buried card to the top of its fan. You score a point for every card sent home, with a bonus for each redeal and the merci you never needed. Free to play in your browser — no download, no sign-up.
How to Play
Only the top card of each fan may move. Build the foundations up by suit, Ace to King. On the fans, build down in the same suit. An empty fan stays empty. Stuck? You have 2 redeals, then one merci to pull a buried card to the top of its fan. 1 point per card home. A win scores 52, plus 10 per unused redeal and 5 for an unused merci.
Tips & Strategy
Look before you move, because an empty fan can never be refilled. Every card in the layout is face-up, so scan all eighteen fans first and find the buried cards that will block you: a low card trapped beneath a higher card of the same suit can only be reached by moving that higher card somewhere else, and if no place exists for it, that suit is stuck until a redeal or the merci. Free those trapped Aces and 2s first, since everything above them in their suit waits on them.
Build on the fans sparingly. Moving the 7♠ onto the 8♠ uncovers a card, which is good, but it also buries the 8♠ deeper and makes a longer run that must later be unpicked one card at a time. Prefer moves that send a card straight to a foundation, then moves that free a card you will need soon, and only then building moves that merely shuffle cards around. When two moves look equal, choose the one that leaves the fan with a useful top card.
Spend the redeals late and the merci later. A redeal gathers every unplayed card and shuffles them into new fans of three, so wring out every useful move before asking for one — each redeal you never use is worth 10 points, and the merci is worth 5. After the last redeal, save the merci for the single card that unlocks the most: often a low card buried under its own suit, where pulling it free lets a whole run go home.