New variant
Four foundations are pre-seeded with one card of each suit, all sharing the same starting rank chosen by the shuffle. Build each foundation up by suit, wrapping from King back to Ace. Draw cards one at a time from the stock; unplayable cards go to the waste. The top waste card may be played to a foundation at any time. You get four passes through the talon — move all 52 cards to the foundations to win.
Draw a card from the stock, or click the waste top to play it on a foundation.
Birthday Solitaire is a foundation-racing patience game in the Canfield family. Like Canfield, all four suit foundations begin on the same randomly determined base rank and build in wrapping order (e.g. base 7 → 7→8→9→10→J→Q→K→A→2→3→4→5→6). The game is played with a stock cycling through a waste pile, limited to a fixed number of passes. The compact format and limited recycling give it a time-pressure feel absent from Canfield.
One standard 52-card deck. One card is turned face-up to set the base rank — all four foundations will start on this rank. The tableau is minimal (varies by implementation). Stock cards are dealt one at a time to a waste pile; the stock recycles when exhausted, limited to four total passes. Move cards from waste or tableau to foundations whenever they fit the current wrapping sequence. Win by completing all four foundations.
Canfield uses a 13-card reserve, a 4-card tableau, and draw-three stock with (usually) unlimited recycling. Birthday uses a simpler layout with a limited number of stock passes. The base-rank wrapping foundation mechanic is the same, but Birthday’s pass limit creates more urgency: every waste card that cycles without being played is an opportunity permanently diminished.
With only four total passes through the stock, the key discipline is identical to Calculation and Rainbow: do not cycle a card without actively evaluating whether it fits a foundation now or soon. Cards seen on pass one and not played may be critical on pass four — but pass four is the last chance.
Track the wrapping cycle at all times. If the base is 9, cards of rank 8 are the last you will need. Cards of rank 10 are the first after the base. Knowing the cycle prevents the common mistake of treating all ranks as equally urgent.