01THIRTEEN PILES. FOUR EACH.
How do you set up Clock Patience?
Shuffle a standard 52-card pack without jokers. Deal thirteen piles of four face-down cards. Arrange twelve as the hours around a clock and put pile thirteen in the centre.
Positions 1 to 10 take aces through tens. Position 11 takes jacks, 12 takes queens, and the centre takes kings. Suits and colours do not affect destinations. The browser labels every pile and displays its hidden-card and sorted-card counts.
Start by revealing the top hidden card of the centre pile. There is no separate stock pile: the entire pack is already in the thirteen piles.
REVEAL. PLACE. FOLLOW.
How do turns work in Clock Patience?
Reveal the top hidden card from the active pile. Place it face up underneath the pile that matches its rank. For example, a four goes to pile 4; a jack goes to 11. That destination becomes the active pile for the next reveal.
In physical play, keep the face-up sorted cards below the still-hidden cards. The browser tracks them separately and displays counts so that a sorted card is never drawn again.
Choose Reveal next card, then select its matching pile. You cannot pick a different next pile or place a card at another number. Hint names the correct destination but makes no play for you.
JACK ELEVEN. QUEEN TWELVE.
Where do the court cards go?
A jack goes to position 11, a queen to 12 and a king to the centre K pile. An ace belongs at position 1. Numbered cards two through ten use their printed numbers.
When a card belongs to the same pile from which it was drawn, place it among that pile’s sorted cards and reveal its next hidden card. Continue following ranks. There is no ace–king wrap or suit foundation building.
For example, draw a queen from the centre and place it at 12. Draw an ace from 12 and place it at 1. Draw a seven from 1 and place it at 7. Each destination determines the next reveal.
THE FOURTH KING. THE FINISH.
When does the fourth king stop the game?
Each king returns play to the centre, whose four hidden cards are the original starting supply. After the fourth king is placed, there is no hidden centre card left to continue from.
If all 52 cards are sorted by then, you win. If any other cards remain hidden, the deal ends unsuccessfully. In a winning deal, the final placed card is the fourth king.
There are no rescue draws, extra kings, wild cards or changes of starting pile. The prepared fourth lesson begins with 51 cards already sorted so you can see a successful ending.
ALL FIFTY-TWO. SORTED.
Can you improve your odds with strategy?
The choices are prescribed by the revealed ranks. Once the pack is shuffled and dealt, its order determines the result. Choosing a different suit, delaying a king or drawing from another pile is not part of this version.
Undo reverses a reveal or placement for learning; replaying the same actions gives the same result. Restart repeats the same deal. New deal shuffles a different order after confirmation. Hints simply identify the matching rank.
Full play uses all 52 cards. The first three lessons are small prepared positions, and the fourth shows a complete ending. No win rate, timer or score is stored. Leaving or reloading resets the game.
A CLOCK. WITHOUT RESCUES.
Which Clock Patience variation is this?
This page teaches the familiar rank-following Clock Solitaire with twelve outer piles, centre kings, four cards per pile and the fourth-king finish. It is distinct from other patience games that use clock-shaped foundations.
Some house versions add extra chances after the fourth king. This browser does not. Switching tabs pauses practice; Resume game continues. The layout shrinks on phones while retaining the twelve clock positions and labelled centre.
Reference: Rushcliffe Borough Council’s clock-patience guide. Original explanations and prepared teaching positions. Our browser variation is specified here. Reviewed 30 October 2026.
