Clock Solitaire
Deal the clock, turn cards under their hour, and beat the four Kings.
How to play Clock Solitaire
All 52 cards are dealt face-down into thirteen piles of four: twelve laid out like the hours of a clock, plus one pile in the centre for the Kings. Tap the glowing centre pile to turn its top card. Each card you reveal slides face-up under the pile matching its rank (Ace at one o'clock, through Jack at eleven, Queen at twelve, and Kings to the centre) and you then draw the top of THAT pile next. The round ends when the fourth King appears, so you win only if every one of the 52 cards has already been turned up. It is almost entirely a game of luck, so just keep tapping the active pile and hope the clock unwinds.
A game of pure chance, laid out beautifully
Clock Solitaire is less a puzzle than a small ceremony. Fifty-two cards go face-down into thirteen piles of four, twelve of them arranged like the numbers on a clock face and one pile in the middle for the Kings. You turn the top card of the centre pile, tuck it face-up beneath the pile that matches its rank, then turn the top card of that pile, and on and on. Aces go to one o'clock, the Jack to eleven, the Queen to twelve, and every King comes home to the centre.
Here is the thing worth knowing before you start: you make no decisions. Every move is forced, because the card you just revealed tells you exactly which pile to visit next. There is no clever line to find and no skill to apply. That is not a flaw, it is the entire character of the game.
The King problem
The round ends the instant the fourth King is turned over. A King sends you back to the centre, and once all four are exposed there is nowhere new to go. You win only if, at that exact moment, every one of the fifty-two cards has already been flipped face-up. If the fourth King surfaces while cards are still hidden, the clock stops and the game is lost.
The first King or two are harmless detours. The third one changes the mood, because from then on any tap could end everything, and you start counting the face-down cards left around the clock as the trail winds on. That slow tightening is most of the fun. A typical loss looks like this: three Kings up, four or five cards still sleeping at ten and two o'clock, and the centre pile coughs up the last King while those piles never got a visit. A typical win feels absurd by contrast, the trail happening to wander through every single hour before it comes home. Both games were played identically. Only the shuffle differed.
Why it's exactly one in thirteen
The shuffle decides everything because the deal hides one long trail. Every card points to the next pile you'll visit, so tapping doesn't make choices; it reads out a path that was fixed the moment the cards were dealt. You win only if that path happens to walk through all fifty-two cards before it closes. Mathematicians have worked the odds out exactly, and the answer is 1 in 13. Here's a way to feel why. The game always ends the moment the fourth King turns up, so winning means that King was the very last of the fifty-two cards you flipped. Everything hangs on one question: is the card sitting in the final slot of the hidden trail a King? Four cards out of fifty-two are Kings, and 4 out of 52 is exactly 1 in 13.
The losing streaks follow from the same math. There's about a one-in-three chance your first thirteen games all lose, and even after twenty-six games roughly one player in eight is still waiting for a first win. A long dry run doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. There is no wrong.
Older names and table lore
Patience books have carried this game for well over a century under a pile of names: Travellers, Four of a Kind, Hidden Cards, Sundial. It also has a long side career as a parlor fortune-teller. Because the player decides nothing, it works as a yes-or-no oracle: make a wish, deal the clock, and let the Kings answer. Nobody ever believed it much, which is part of the charm. The layout has a quiet teaching job too. Children learn the clock positions and the card ranks in the same sitting, since every card literally goes home to its own hour.
Why people keep tapping
Games with no decisions have a strange, calming pull. There is no pressure to play well because you cannot play badly, and each round is a fresh roll of the dice that resolves in under a minute. It is the card equivalent of watching a row of dominoes fall: you set it going and simply find out how the shuffle decided to treat you. It works well as a palate cleanser between games that do demand thought, and if you want stakes, keep a tally: with the odds at 1 in 13, a second win inside your first dozen deals means the clock genuinely likes you.
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Clock Solitaire: frequently asked questions
Where does each card go?
Under the clock position that matches its rank: Ace to the 1 o'clock pile, 2 through 10 to their numbers, Jack to 11, Queen to 12, and every King to the centre pile. After placing a card you draw from the pile you just added to.
How do I win, and why is it so hard?
You win only if all 52 cards are face-up when the fourth King turns up. Because the fourth King usually appears while cards are still buried, wins are rare: the outcome is fixed by the shuffle, so it is a game of chance rather than skill.
Is there any strategy at all?
Essentially none: every move is forced once the deal is set, which is part of the charm. Your score is how many cards you managed to reveal, and your best count is saved so you can chase a full 52.
Is there any skill in Clock Solitaire?
None at all. Every move is forced by the card you just turned over, so you never make a choice. The result is decided entirely by the shuffle before you flip a single card.
What are my chances of winning?
Exactly 1 in 13. Because the game is pure luck, that figure holds no matter how you play. Winning requires the last card you flip to be the fourth King with nothing left hidden, and the counting works out to one deal in thirteen.
Why does the game end on the fourth King?
Kings are sent to the centre pile, which is the pile you draw from. Once all four sit face-up there, the next draw has nowhere to lead, so play stops. You win only if all fifty-two cards are already revealed at that point.
Which pile does each card go to?
The pile matching its rank. Ace to the one o'clock spot, the numbers to their hours, Jack to eleven, Queen to twelve, and Kings to the centre. Turn up a five and it slides under the five o'clock pile, and you draw there next.
Does this game have other names?
Plenty. Old patience books list it as Travellers, Four of a Kind, Hidden Cards and Sundial, and some families just call it Clock Patience. The layout is always the same: twelve piles around a clock face and the Kings in the middle.
How long does a game take?
About a minute. There are no decisions to weigh, so you just keep turning the active pile until the deck runs out or the fourth King ends it.
Is Clock Solitaire free to play?
Yes. Clock Solitaire is completely free on Inkplay, with no download, no sign-up, and no in-game purchases. Open the page and play instantly on desktop or mobile.
Can I play Clock Solitaire unblocked?
Yes. Clock Solitaire runs entirely in your browser with no download, install, or plugins, so it loads instantly and keeps working even on school or work networks where bigger game sites get blocked.
More games to play
In the mood for more? Try Chess, Tic Tac Toe, Connect Four, Reversi, or browse all board games and the full games list on Inkplay. Clock Solitaire also appears in Solitaire.