Every empty column forces a choice.
Falling Star has only eight tableau piles. Clearing one opens a gap that must be filled from stock or waste before ordinary play continues.
Last updated: September 2026
This reserve builder has a mandatory stock-or-waste gap fill. Canfield also asks you to manage a reserve, but its empty-column and stock rules differ.
Plan the fill before making the gap
When you move a lone tableau card away, the column becomes empty. If both stock and waste contain cards, you choose which top card fills it. Filling from waste uncovers the card below it; filling from stock reveals a new card without changing the visible waste card.
Look at the waste top before emptying a column. If it can soon move to a foundation, leaving it on waste may be useful. If it blocks a promising card beneath it, placing it in the gap may be better. A stock fill is harder to predict because its card is hidden until it lands.
Unlock the reserve
The eleven-card reserve is a queue. Only its exposed end is playable, and it goes directly to a foundation. Work toward that card's rank and color on one of the eight foundations. A tableau move that uncovers the next needed rank may be more valuable than a move that merely makes a long descending column.
Each foundation begins at the rank of the dealt base card and builds upward in alternating colors. The count wraps from King to Ace. A foundation holds at most thirteen cards, so check whether a pile still has room before relying on it to absorb a reserve card.
Use the one-pass stock carefully
Stock cards can be turned to waste one at a time when there is no gap. There is no redeal. Try playing the visible waste top before covering it, especially if it can clear a tableau pile or advance a foundation needed by the reserve.
Once both stock and waste are empty, a remaining gap no longer blocks play. That exception matters near the end: you can still move exposed tableau and reserve cards to the foundations even with an empty column.