Fan Fifteens
A solitaire card game: take cards from fan ends that add up to 15.
About this game
Fan Fifteens is a free solitaire card game in your browser. Take cards from fan ends that add up to exactly 15 and clear the table. Every deal can be cleared, and there are three tiers, limited undos and a Daily Deal with a streak.
Fan Fifteens is a solitaire card game built around one simple sum. Cards lie face up on a dark teal table in overlapping fans, and only the card at each end of a fan is free to move. Pick exposed cards whose values add up to exactly 15 and take them together. An ace counts as 1, the cards from 2 to 9 are worth their number, and tens, jacks, queens and kings are all worth 10. Take every card and the table is clear.
As a sum to 15 card game it is quick to learn and harder to finish well. A running total shows above the table while you select cards. It stays neutral below 15, turns green at exactly 15 and turns red when you go over, so you always know what you are building. A take can use two cards or more, from different fans or from both ends of the same fan. When an end card leaves, the card under it becomes free, so every take changes what you can do next. The small cards, from ace to four, are the useful partners for the big ones, and spending them carelessly can leave the last cards with nothing to add up to.
Each deal uses a deck with some tens set aside, and it is built backwards from a hidden solution, so every deal can be cleared. That makes a dead end fair. When no 15 is left among the free cards, the game says "No more 15s" and shows how many cards you cleared. You can step back with an undo, retry the same deal or look at your result. Undos are limited, and the harder tiers give you fewer of them. Relaxed deals six fans, Standard seven and Tough five. Tough starts locked and opens once you have earned 5 stars.
Clearing the table earns one to three stars. Three stars mean you used no undos, two mean you used at most one, and one star is for any clear. Points reward bigger sets and cascades, where a take uses a card that the previous take just uncovered. Emptying a fan adds a bonus, and a clear brings extra points for unused undos and a small one for speed. Your total stars unlock new table colours as well as Tough.
The Daily Deal is a Standard deal that is the same for everyone on each UTC day. You can retry it as often as you like, and clearing it on consecutive days builds a streak. There is nothing to download and no account to make, and your progress is saved in your browser. It plays with a mouse, touch or keyboard shortcuts, and it is easiest to read on a phone held sideways. A deal usually takes a few minutes. Settings let you turn on auto-take at 15, four-colour suits and reduced motion.
How to play
- Choose Daily Deal, or pick Relaxed, Standard or Tough under Free Play. Your very first deal is a Relaxed one with a few short captions to guide you.
- Look at the card at each end of every fan. Only these end cards can be selected. Tap or click one to lift it.
- Keep selecting cards until the total reads 15. An ace is 1, 2 to 9 are their number, and 10, J, Q and K are 10. The total turns green at 15 and red above it.
- At 15, tap one of the selected cards again, press the Take button, or press Enter or Space to remove the set.
- New end cards are now free. If you pick the wrong cards, deselect them with Clear or by tapping them again.
- Keep taking sets until every fan is empty. If you see "No more 15s", undo, try the same deal again or see your result.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select/deselect exposed card | - | click | tap |
| Confirm take at 15 | Enter or Space | click a selected card again, or Take button | tap a selected card again, or Take button |
| Clear selection | Backspace or C | right-click table, click empty felt, Clear button | tap empty felt, Clear button |
| Undo | U or Ctrl+Z | Undo button | Undo button |
| Hint (if offered) | H | Hint button | Hint button |
| Pause | Esc or P | Pause button | Pause button |
| Mute | M | speaker icon | speaker icon |
Tips
- Save the small cards. Aces, twos, threes and fours make 15 out of tens and nines, and there are not many of them. Use them when you must, not on an easy pair.
- Before you confirm a take, look at which cards it will uncover. Pick the set that frees the card you need next.
- Try for cascades. A take that uses a card the previous take just exposed raises your multiplier, so plan two takes ahead.
- Selecting is free. Pick cards to see the total, then deselect them if the set leaves you short later.
- Count how many tens are showing against how many small cards remain. Each ten needs a partner worth 5, so tens run out of partners first.
- Learn on Relaxed. It has the most fans and the most undos, and the Daily Deal uses the Standard tier.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Fan Fifteens?
- It is a free solitaire card game where you take cards from the ends of overlapping fans. Each set you take must add up to exactly 15, and you win by taking every card.
- Is every deal winnable?
- Yes, every deal can be cleared because it is built backwards from a hidden solution. You can still strand cards by taking the wrong sets, which is why the game gives you limited undos.
- Why does a deal use only part of a deck?
- A full deck cannot be split into sets of 15, so each deal sets some of the tens aside. The cards you see always add up to a total that can be cleared.
- How do the tiers, stars and themes work?
- Relaxed uses six fans, Standard seven and Tough five, with fewer undos as the tier gets harder. Tough unlocks at 5 total stars, and more table themes unlock as your star total grows.
- How does the Daily Deal work?
- Each UTC day has one Standard deal, the same for everyone. You can try it as many times as you want, and clearing it on consecutive days builds your streak.
- Do I need to download anything, and does it work on a phone?
- No download or account is needed, and it is a patience game you can open straight in the browser. It works with touch and is easiest to read with the phone held sideways.