Free the Fool

Introduction

Free the Fool is a solitaire game played with a standard deck of playing cards and a single Joker representing the Fool.

The Fool has been wrongfully imprisoned and is surrounded by four walls and four bars.

Free the Fool by removing cards and breaking down one of the walls that surround him. Once any of the four walls is completely removed, the Fool is free and the game is won.

The game ends when no more moves can be made and all four walls are still standing.

Careful, the bars are alarmed. If you completely remove all four bars before eliminating a wall, the alarm is tripped and the game is over.

Winning games are scored based on the time to complete, the number of moves, and the number of cards removed. Bonuses are scored if all four bars are standing and/or multiple walls are demolished.

Game Setup

The Fool is surrounded by 8 stacks of cards.

The stacks immediately above, below, to the left and to the right of the Fool represent the walls. By default, each wall contains 7 cards.

The stack of cards at each corner represent the bars. By default, each bar contains 3 cards.

In the example game shown, the Three of Spades, Two of Clubs, Four of Spades, and Seven of Clubs sit atop the 4 walls, and the Queen of Hearts, Seven of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, and Nine of Spades sit atop the 4 bars.

Game Play

Cards have the following values: Ace=1, Two=2, Three=3, …, Ten=10, Jack=11, Queen=12, King=13. The Joker has no value.

Play one or more red cards against one or more black cards of the same total value to remove them from walls and/or bars. For example, a red Jack and a black Jack can be played against one another and removed from play. In addition, a red Five can be played against any number of black cards that also total five — e.g, Four and Ace or Three and Two.

In the example setup above, any one of the following moves could be made:

Tap the cards you wish to select to remove. Selected cards will be highlighted. As soon as the total value of red cards selected equals the total value of black cards selected, Free the Fool will prompt you to remove the cards. Tap OKAY to remove the cards or CANCEL to select additional cards. If you choose to remove the selected cards, the card underneath (if any) will be flipped and play continues until you have completely removed at least one wall (game won), you are out of moves (game over), or the bar alarm has been tripped (game over). Selected cards can be deselected by tapping them again.

If you get stuck, you can deal a card from the deck on top of the Fool. To deal a card, tap on the deck in the upper left corner of the game. Any card you deal places a chain on the Fool and must be removed before the Fool can be freed. You can deal a maximum of 3 cards on top of the Fool. Any cards dealt on top of the Fool are selectable and in play.

Tip: Focus on and remove cards from the walls whenever possible. Removing bar cards increases the chance of tripping the alarm and reduces the chances of clearing wall cards.

Settings

Several settings below will make the game easier or harder and are noted as such. The defaults make for reasonable game play.

Fool

Red Joker (default) - the red Joker is the Fool

Black Joker - the black Joker is the Fool

Card back

Red (default) - use the red card back

Alternate Red - use the alternate red card back

Blue - use the blue card back

Alternate Blue - use the alternate blue card back

Wall cards

6 (easier) - use 6 wall cards

7 (default) - use 7 wall cards

8 (harder) - use 8 wall cards

Bar cards

2 (harder) - use 2 bar cards

3 (default) - use 3 bar cards

4 (easier) - use 4 bar cards

Game timer

Display game timer. On (default) or Off.

Card selection hints

Display card selection totals. On (default) or Off.

Card counts

Display remaining card counts on card stacks. On (easier) or Off (default).

Sound effects

Enable sound effects. On (default) or Off.

Support

For additional support or answers to questions not found here, email support@tekaym.com.

Credits

Free the Fool is based on Joker Jailbreak by Roofkat Games (roofkatgames.com).

Playing cards provided by Tek Eye (tekeye.uk/playing_cards/svg-playing-cards).

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