La Belle Lucie

The Art of the Fan • Total Visibility • Strategic Reshuffling
La Belle Lucie Solitaire Game

Known also as "Midnight Oil," La Belle Lucie is an elegant, high-skill solitaire variant. With every card dealt face-up into beautiful fans, your victory depends entirely on your ability to sequence cards by suit and time your limited reshuffles perfectly.

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Rules of the Game

1

The Seventeen Fans

A standard 52-card deck is dealt into 17 fans of three cards each, with a single card left as the 18th fan. Every card is visible from the very start.

2

Build by Suit

In the tableau, move cards only to another card of the same suit in descending order (e.g., 8 of Spades onto 9 of Spades). You can only move the top card of any fan.

3

Foundations Upward

Build the four foundation piles up by suit from Ace to King. Empty tableau spaces created by clearing a fan cannot be refilled.

4

Two Shuffles & A Mercie

If you run out of moves, you may reshuffle the remaining cards twice. Some versions also allow a "Mercie"—pulling one card from beneath a fan to the top.

Common Questions

Is La Belle Lucie winnable?
It is famously difficult! The win rate depends heavily on how the "dead" cards are distributed. However, the two reshuffles make it a satisfying puzzle for those who love deep logic.

What is "Midnight Oil"?
That was the traditional name for the game, suggesting it's the kind of complex puzzle that keeps players awake late into the night.