Penguin Solitaire is a strategic FreeCell-family patience game that you can win nearly every time—now playable free and full-screen on solitairex.io. Invented by British games scholar David Parlett while he was writing The Penguin Book of Patience, the layout features a unique “beak” card, seven “flipper” cells, and a win-rate of about 99.9 %, making it one of the most rewarding solo card puzzles on the web.

Game Overview

• Family & difficulty: Member of the FreeCell group—perfect-information games where every card is dealt face-up; skilful play, not luck, decides the outcome.
• Deck & deal: One 52-card deck is dealt into seven columns of seven cards; the first card dealt becomes the beak and its three mates leap straight to the foundations.
• Foundations: Built up in suit, wrapping King→Ace, starting from the beak’s rank.
• Tableau: Built down in suit, also circular; complete in-suit runs move as a single block, with no free-cell count limit.
• Flipper cells: Seven single-card reserves give flexibility but punish careless parking.
• Empty-column rule: Only a card (or run) one rank below the beak may start a vacant column—mastering this rule is the key to fast clears.

How to Play Penguin Solitaire Online

1. Free the beak early. Clearing the leftmost column unlocks the fourth foundation and speeds up the rest of the build.
2. Keep flipper cells transient. Always plan how you’ll empty a cell before you fill it; seven slots evaporate fast.
3. Create at least one empty column. A vacant pile functions like a super-cell for whole suit sequences that begin one rank below the beak.
4. Move full runs whenever possible. Because runs ignore cell limits, sliding a long suit sequence can unblock multiple cards in one stroke.
5. Finish foundations aggressively. Unlike Klondike, there’s no penalty for building early—send cards home the moment they’re free.

History & Origins

• Created by David Parlett (b. 1939). Parlett is an award-winning designer (Hare & Tortoise) and historian of card games; Penguin is one of several original solitaires he published in the late 1970s.
• Named for The Penguin Book of Patience—Parlett wrote the rules while compiling that landmark 1980 compendium.
• Solver statistics. A 50-million-deal computer analysis estimates only 1 in 1 667 deals is unwinnable (≈ 99.94 % success), slightly tougher than classic FreeCell yet easier than Eight Off.

Why Play on SolitaireX?

• Instant play, no downloads—just open the game and start planning your sequence.
• Mobile-first design—smooth on phones, tablets, and desktops.
• More FreeCell challenges: After you conquer Penguin, explore dozens of other FreeCell variants in our FreeCell collection.
• Try the classic: Prefer the original four-cell puzzle? Jump straight to FreeCell Classic—also 100 % free and solvable.

Case Studies

All figures below come directly from our database. Using first-party data ensures every insight is evidence-based, up-to-date, and privacy-respectful.

Fresh from the SolitaireX Blog

Data Insights and Strategies to Improve Your Win Rate

Classic Solitaire (Klondike) is a game of both skill and luck, and even seasoned players don’t win every deal. In fact, last month on SolitaireX.io, 913,106 games of Classic Solitaire were played, with 409,374 wins and 503,732 losses, an overall win rate of about 45%.

Why We Created Rouge et Noir Solitaire

Many of us fell in love with solitaire by watching our elders play by a warm hearth, marveling at their patience and strategy. This nostalgia and passion for card games fueled our desire to revive Rouge et Noir Solitaire on solitairex.io

La Belle Lucie Solitaire: Your Chill Guide to the Most Charming One-Deck Card Game

La Belle Lucie (French for “the beautiful Lucy”) is a fan-style solitaire that dates back to the 19ᵗʰ century. You deal the whole deck into little fans of three cards, and then try to build each suit up to the King. It’s quick to learn, surprisingly deep, and perfect for a five-minute mental reset (or a two-hour rabbit hole—no judgment here).

Osmosis Solitaire Online: How to Play, Rules, Tips & History

Welcome to Osmosis Solitaire! This unique patience card game – also known as "Treasure Trove" – offers a fresh twist on classic solitaire. In Osmosis, you build up four foundation piles by suit, but (unlike games like Klondike) you don’t have to follow numerical order. Instead, cards of the same rank “filter down” into lower foundations only after appearing in higher ones – a quirky mechanic that inspired the name Osmosis. It’s a friendly-yet-challenging solitaire variant that’s perfect for casual play.