New variant
Big Ben is a two-deck clock-face patience. Twelve foundation piles are arranged as clock hours, each pre-seeded with its matching rank from 2 o'clock up to 1 o'clock. Build each foundation upward by suit, wrapping around from King back to Ace, until every foundation shows its hour on top. Eight tableau piles below the clock build downward by alternating colors; draw from the stock when you are stuck.
Click a card to select it, then click a valid target. Fill gaps when highlighted.
Big Ben Solitaire uses a clock-face layout like Clock Solitaire, but it is a genuine strategy game rather than a mechanical one. Two decks are used, twelve foundation piles are arranged in a clock ring (one per rank position), and eight tableau piles sit in the center. Each foundation builds upward by suit with wraparound — the starting rank of each foundation is pre-determined by the layout, creating a synchronized multi-foundation race.
Two 52-card decks (104 cards). Twelve foundation positions arranged in a clock face, each seeded with one card (one rank per position, both suits of that rank will eventually go there). Foundations build upward by suit with wraparound. Eight tableau piles in the center build downward in alternating colors. A stock deals one card at a time to a waste pile. Win when all 104 cards reach the twelve foundations.
Clock Solitaire is fully mechanical — no choices, outcome determined by shuffle. Big Ben requires real strategic decisions: which foundation to advance, when to use the tableau for staging, how to pace the stock. The clock layout is thematic, not mechanical — you choose every move.
The twelve synchronized foundations (instead of the standard four) create more complex dependency tracking: each foundation has its own starting rank and both suits of cards at that rank must reach it.
The twelve foundations each start at a specific rank. Cards of that rank (both suits) are the anchors for their respective clock positions. Tracking which ranks are currently accepting cards — and which suits of those ranks are still needed — requires scanning twelve positions instead of the usual four.
Prioritize foundation moves whenever they exist. Advancing the clock positions reduces tableau congestion and reveals new sequencing opportunities.
