How to Play Demon Patience

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Demon Patience is a single-player card game played with a standard 52-card deck. It sits in the same family as Klondike but is considered by many players to be harder and more satisfying: the layout is more constrained, the choices are less forgiving, and a successful completion genuinely feels earned. It is also known as Canfield in North America, though the two names carry slightly different rule traditions.

The game is typically played on a table or firm surface with enough room for four foundation piles, four tableau columns, a stock pile, and a waste pile. Because it is compact and quick to set up, it travels well and suits any age once a player is confident handling and sorting cards. Most players complete or exhaust a deal in under fifteen minutes, making it ideal for a short break.

A little history

The game known in Britain as Demon Patience is widely associated in North America with the name Canfield, said to derive from a late-nineteenth-century gambling house operator who reportedly sold decks to customers and paid out per card successfully placed. However, documentary evidence for that specific origin story is thin, and its full provenance is unclear. The game appears in British patience compendiums from the early twentieth century under the Demon name, and the two regional traditions share the same core mechanism while differing in small but meaningful details of the rules.

Setting up

1. Shuffle the deck thoroughly.
2. Deal 13 cards face down into a single pile to your left. Turn the top card face up. This is the reserve (sometimes called the heel).
3. Turn up the next card from the remaining deck and place it above the reserve to start the first foundation pile. Note its rank: all four foundations must begin on a card of this same rank.
4. Deal four cards face up in a row to the right of the reserve. These form your four tableau columns.
5. Hold the remaining cards face down as your stock pile.

How to play

1. The four foundations are built up in suit (same suit only), wrapping from King back to Ace as needed, until each pile contains 13 cards. All foundations must start on the rank turned up during setup.
2. The tableau columns are built downward in alternating colours, one card at a time. Only single cards may be moved between tableau columns; you cannot shift a built sequence as a unit.
3. The top card of the reserve is always available for play to a foundation or onto a tableau column. When it is moved, turn up the next reserve card.
4. To play from the stock, turn cards over one at a time onto a single waste pile. The top card of the waste pile is always available for play to a foundation or tableau column.
5. When a tableau column is emptied completely, fill it immediately with the top card of the reserve. If the reserve is exhausted, you may fill an empty column with any available card.
6. When you reach the end of the stock, turn the waste pile over without shuffling to form a new stock and continue dealing one card at a time. There is no limit to the number of times you may cycle through the stock.
7. Play continues until all four foundations are complete (you win) or until you have cycled through the stock repeatedly and no move remains available (the game is blocked).

Winning and scoring

You win Demon Patience when all 52 cards have been moved onto the four foundation piles. Each foundation will contain exactly 13 cards, running upward in suit from the starting rank through to the card just below it, wrapping King-to-Ace where necessary. There is no points scoring in the traditional version: the game is either won or lost. Some players note how many cards remain off the foundations when blocked, treating that number as a loss margin to beat on future attempts.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns empty tableau columns. The strict traditional ruling is that an empty column must be filled immediately from the top of the reserve, and the player has no choice in the matter. Only once the reserve is empty does the player have free choice of what card to place there. Some casual players allow free choice at any time, but this significantly reduces difficulty and is not standard for Demon Patience.

A second edge case arises with stock cycling. Some published rule sets limit redeals to two or three passes through the stock; others allow unlimited cycling. The unlimited version is the most widely documented British tradition for this game. If you choose to limit redeals, agree the number before play begins. There is also occasional confusion about whether a King-high wrap on foundations is automatic or optional: it is automatic, meaning you must continue building through the wrap if the card is playable, and you cannot hold a King back deliberately to block a foundation.

How to win more often

• Prioritise uncovering the reserve: every card you move from the reserve reveals a new one and keeps your options open. A stalled reserve is usually what loses the game.
• Build foundations evenly where possible. Allowing one foundation to race far ahead of the others can leave you unable to place cards of the lagging suits and cause unnecessary blockages.
• Do not rush to fill empty tableau columns. If the reserve is not yet exhausted, you have no choice, but once it is gone, pause before filling a space: an empty column is a valuable holding area and filling it carelessly can lock the game.
• When you have a choice between playing a card from the waste pile or from the reserve, prefer the waste pile. The reserve card will be available on the next pass; a buried waste card may not be accessible for some time.
• Before cycling the stock again, scan the tableau and foundations carefully. Sometimes a sequence of moves is available that transforms the position entirely, and cycling without making those moves wastes a pass through the deck.

Variations

Canfield (North American rules)

Played with an identical layout but with one key difference: tableau columns are built in alternating colours and sequences can be moved as a unit rather than one card at a time. Some versions also deal three cards at a time from the stock rather than one. These changes make the game slightly more flexible and are the dominant form in North America.

Limited Redeals

A stricter variant in which the stock may only be passed through a set number of times, typically two or three, before any unplayed stock cards are simply turned face down and the game declared lost. This considerably increases difficulty and is favoured by players who find the unlimited version too forgiving once a strong position is established.

Storehouse (Thirteen Up)

In this close relative all four Aces are removed from the deck before play and placed immediately on the foundations, so foundations always start from Ace. The reserve is dealt as in the standard game and the same tableau and stock rules apply. Starting from a known base makes the game marginally more tractable and is a good introduction for newer players.

Superior Demon

A harder variant in which sequences of properly built cards on the tableau may still not be moved as a unit, and additionally the player is only permitted two full passes through the stock before the game ends. The combination of strict single-card movement and a tight stock limit makes winning rare and is recommended only for experienced players looking for a genuine challenge.

Demon Patience: frequently asked questions