Two Balconies
Italian deck · 40 cardsOpen game with two free cellsTwo Balconies is an open patience for the 40-card Neapolitan deck. Every card is face up from the start, and two small balconies hold one card each while you sort out the suits.
Rules
All 40 Italian cards are dealt face up into eight columns of five. Above them are two free cells – the balconies – and four foundations.
- Build each foundation up in one suit, from the Ace to the Re.
- In the columns, place a card on the next higher card of the same suit: the 4 of Cups goes on the 5 of Cups.
- Each balcony holds any single card. A card on a balcony can go back to a column or straight to its foundation.
- Any card, or any run in suit, may fill an empty column.
- Several cards can move at once when there would be room to move them one by one: with one free balcony you move two cards, with two free balconies three, and every empty column doubles that number.
- There is no stock. The game is won when all 40 cards are home.
Strategy and tips
Free the Aces first
Find each Ace and count the cards lying on top of it. The Ace with the fewest cards above it is usually the right place to start, because its suit can then start growing on the foundation.
Keep one balcony empty
With only two cells, two full balconies can freeze the whole table. Fill the second one only when the move frees a card that goes home at once.
Protect runs in suit
A run in one suit moves as a block and later goes home card by card. Avoid breaking such a run for a move that only helps for a moment.
An empty column beats a balcony
An empty column holds a whole run, not just one card, and it doubles how many cards you can move at once. Clearing a short column early often decides the game.
A Re at the bottom is a gift
A Re lying at the base of a column never needs to move. Build its suit down on it and the column turns into a ready-made run.
Think, then undo freely
Since nothing is hidden, the whole game is planning. Try an idea, and if it leads nowhere, undo back to where it began.
Numbered deals of Two Balconies
Thirty fixed deals of Two Balconies, each won by the solver before it was listed. Start with an easy one or jump straight to the hard ones.
- Deal #2Easy · 24 moves in the solver's line · 16% quick wins
- Deal #3Easy · 24 moves in the solver's line · 14% quick wins
- Deal #4Medium · 20 moves in the solver's line · 1% quick wins
- Deal #8Medium · 21 moves in the solver's line · 4% quick wins
- Deal #1Hard · 24 moves in the solver's line · 0% quick wins
- Deal #5Hard · 26 moves in the solver's line · 0% quick wins
Questions and answers
Is this FreeCell with fewer cards?
It is related: everything is open and free cells help you move cards. But Two Balconies uses the 40-card deck, has only two cells and eight columns of five, and you build in the same suit instead of alternating colours.
Why only two balconies?
Because of how the deals play out. Measured with the engine's solver, one free cell leaves only about one deal in five winnable, while three cells make almost every deal easy. Two cells leave about nine deals in ten winnable and still ask for a real plan.
Is every deal winnable?
The daily deal and the numbered deals are checked by the solver. A random new deal is not checked in advance; about nine in ten can be won.
Why did several cards jump home on their own?
That is the automatic move of safe cards. A card goes home by itself only when no card in the columns could still need it. You can switch it off in the menu.
Go further
- Building downStrategy for building solitaire on the Italian deck: uncovering hidden cards, using empty columns, free cells and multi-card moves, and when to send cards home.
- The Neapolitan deck, card by cardA clear guide to the 40-card Italian deck: Coins, Cups, Swords and Batons, the court cards Fante, Cavallo and Re, values in games and how it differs from the French deck.
- Daily dealToday's daily deal for seven solitaire games: the same shuffle for every player, checked as winnable. Play one a day and keep your streak going.
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