Brass Observatory: Fortune Lane

About Brass Observatory: Fortune Lane

Brass Observatory: Fortune Lane is a solo card game set high in the shop's clock tower, where the clockmaker keeps his workshop behind the great glass face. The face glows amber with the day outside, its numerals backwards from in here, and its iron hands turn over an oak bench. On the bench a full deck is laid along six beams of the clock's frame, long and short in turn, and the open card at the end of a beam is played onto the great wheel: one rank up or down from the card on top, with the King and the Ace side by side.

A lane is five deals, one for each lamp round the face. Before each deal you take one of two rule cards laid face up, such as a third peg, a deeper tin or a suit that may go on any card, and the points of every deal carry down the lane. The spare-parts tin holds fifteen cards; two pegs hold a card each while you dig for the one you need.

Four pigeons sit on the ledge under the face, one for each suit, puffed up larger the more their suit is worth, and clearing a beam swaps the most and the least valuable suits. Each deal you clear lights a lamp and moves the hour hand on; clear three deals of a lane and the two bronze jacks ring the great bell while the pigeons fly out through the light. Points are only a score: nothing is staked and nothing is won but the record of a good lane. Every deal is checked by a solving player before you see it. Your best lanes and badges stay in this browser.

How to play

Before each deal of the lane, take one of the two rule cards for it. Its rule holds for that deal only.
Play the open card at the end of a beam onto the great wheel: one rank up or down, with the King and the Ace side by side. Tap it, or drag it to the wheel.
When nothing fits, draw from the spare-parts tin. It holds fifteen cards and is not turned back.
Park a card on one of the two pegs to reach the one beneath it: drag it to a peg, or tap it and then the peg.
Clearing a beam swaps the most and the least valuable suits. Clear all six beams to finish a deal; five deals make a 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 rule card, or Tab to it and press Enter — take it
Tap a card, or drag it to the great wheel — play it
Drag a card to a peg, or tap it and then the peg; R — park it
Tap the spare-parts tin or press E — draw a card
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 played one after another. Before each you choose one of two rule cards, and the points of all five deals add up to the lane's score.

Is anything staked on a lane?

No. The rule cards only change the rules of the next deal, and the points are only a score. Nothing is staked and nothing can be won but your own best lane.

What do the pigeons and the lamps show?

Each pigeon is a suit: the larger it is, the more its cards are worth now. The lamps on the great face show the lane: gold for a deal cleared, a dim ember for a deal left unfinished.

Can every deal be cleared?

With "Winnable deals only" (the default) a solving player has cleared each deal before you see it. Choose "Any shuffle" in the settings for the luck of the draw.

Does it save my lane?

Your lane, best scores and badges are saved in this browser only, and nothing is uploaded.