Brass Archive: Fortune Lane

About Brass Archive: Fortune Lane

Brass Archive: Fortune Lane is a solo card game set in the workshop of a maker of sundials and sand-glasses, where the sun comes low through a dusty window onto a walnut bench. Twenty-two cards lie in five hours, a row at a time, in the shape of an hourglass: six, four, two, four and six. Play the last card of an hour onto the brass sundial when it fits the dial's rule. A card is open only when nothing lies on it, so each play frees the card before it.

The dial's rule turns. It begins as one rank up or down, with the Ace and the King meeting, and every time you clear an hour it turns over: cards within two ranks of the one on the dial, and back again. Two dishes hold a card aside, and the sand box is a stock of twelve that you turn over one card at a time. The four suits are cogs, hourglasses, sundials and pendulums, worth one to four steps a card, and clearing an hour lifts the suit of its last card to the top worth.

The game is a lane of five deals, and the five sand-glasses across the top of the bench are the lane. Before each deal the workshop lays two rule cards face up and you take one: a spare dish, a deeper box, a wild suit, double points for an hour, a longer streak. The glass of the deal in play runs as you clear cards. A cleared deal turns its glass over with all the sand below; a lost one stops the sand where it was. The points of all five deals are added together, and a lost deal keeps what you made. Clear all five and noon comes: the glasses turn in turn and golden light floods the bench.

Every deal is checked by a solving player before you see it, so it can always be cleared, and its par shows what a sharp player can reach. A lane saves where you leave it, in this browser only; nothing is uploaded.

How to play

A lane is five deals. Before each one, take one of the two rule cards on offer. It changes that deal only.
Tap an open card, or drag it to the sundial, when it fits the dial's rule. The rule chip names the rule in force, and it turns each time you clear an hour.
Put a card in a dish to reach the one before it: drag it there, or tap it and then the dish.
Turn a card over from the sand box when no play is left. Clear an hour and the suit of its last card becomes the dearest.
Clear every card of the hourglass to win the deal and turn its glass. The points of all five deals are added down the lane.
Press H or the Hint button for a good move, and U or the Undo button to take a move back.

Controls

Tap a card, or drag it to the sundial — play it
Drag a card to a dish, or tap it and then the dish; R — park
Tap the sand box or press E — turn a card over
Arrow keys or WASD, then Space or Enter; D-pad or stick, then Ⓐ — play
Undo button, U or Ⓨ — undo; Hint button, H or LB — a hint
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

What is a lane?

Five deals in a row. The points of each deal are added together, and the rule card you choose before each deal changes how that deal plays.

What do the sand-glasses show?

Each glass is one deal of the lane. The glass in play runs as you clear cards. A cleared deal turns its glass over with the sand all below; a lost deal stops the sand where it was.

What is the dial's rule?

It decides which cards you may play. It starts as one rank up or down and turns over each time you clear an hour: within two ranks, then back again.

Can every deal be cleared?

With "Winnable deals only" (the default, and always for today's challenge) a solving player has cleared the deal before you see it. Choose "Any shuffle" in the settings for the luck of the draw.

Does it save my lane?

Yes, in this browser only. Your unfinished lane, best scores and badges are never uploaded.