Follow the blocked suit
Before building a fan, check whether the destination is covering the next foundation card you need. A legal move can still create a blockage.
La Belle Lucie
La Belle Lucie
La Belle Lucie: Untangle the Fans
Every card is visible, but not every card is available. La Belle Lucie spreads a single deck into small fans, turning the order of just three cards into a puzzle about access and timing.
This Card Game Nook version begins with seventeen fans of three cards and one lone card. Only the top card of a fan can normally move. Build downward in the same suit, one card at a time: a black card cannot simply sit on any red card as it might in other solitaire games.
An emptied fan stays empty until a redeal. With no free cells to borrow, a move that uncovers an Ace may be more valuable than making a long sequence. Send cards to four foundations, starting with Aces and continuing in suit through Kings.
When the fans stop offering useful moves, two redeals can reshuffle the remaining cards into new groups of three. Foundation cards stay put. On the third deal, a one-time merci lets you take one buried card and make a legal move with it. Plan before spending those chances, and use Undo to reconsider a choice.
Rules of this version
- 1All 52 cards start face up: seventeen three-card fans and one single-card fan.
- 2Only the top card of a fan normally moves, and cards move one at a time.
- 3Fan cards build downward by one rank in the same suit.
- 4Empty fans cannot be filled by ordinary moves. Kings can leave a fan only for a foundation.
- 5Two redeals gather and shuffle remaining fan cards into groups of three; foundations remain intact.
- 6Foundations rise from Ace to King by suit. The final deal allows one merci move of a buried card to a legal destination; all 52 foundation cards win.
How to Play La Belle Lucie? 📔
Read the open fans
Look for accessible Aces and cards blocking their successors. All cards are face up, but only each fan's top card is normally movable.Build within one suit
Move one top card onto the next higher card of the same suit. For example, a six of clubs can go onto a seven of clubs.Spend redeals carefully
After using useful moves, redeal the remaining fan cards. There are two redeals; cards already on foundations are not returned.Finish the foundations
Build each suit from Ace to King. On the final deal, save the single merci for a buried card whose legal move opens a useful route.
Frequently Asked Questions ❓
Can I place a card in an empty fan?
No. Empty fans stay empty until the remaining cards are redealt. Even a King cannot be placed there.
Do I alternate red and black?
No. Fans build downward in the same suit. Foundations build upward in that suit, beginning with the Ace.
What does a redeal change?
It shuffles only the remaining fan cards and lays them out in threes again. Cards on the foundations stay there; you have two redeals.
What is the merci?
On the third deal, you may once take a buried card and move it to a legal foundation or fan destination. It does not let you ignore suit or rank rules.
Why Play La Belle Lucie? 🏆
Treat empty space differently
Do not clear a fan expecting a temporary parking space. Unlike FreeCell, that space cannot accept another card between redeals.
Protect the final rescue
The merci is a single exception, not a spare cell. Choose a buried card that can legally move and unlock more than one follow-up.
