Solitaire rules: how to play Klondike, Spider and FreeCell
Solitaire is a card game for one, and many people remember it from their first home computer. You need no company and not even a deck: ten minutes and a little patience are enough. The rules take a couple of minutes to learn, and no two deals play the same.
The name covers a whole family of games. This guide explains the three best known, Klondike, Spider and FreeCell, along with the shared terms that apply to almost every layout. Once you have them, you will find your way around the hundred or so other versions in the Solitaire world.
Terms worth knowing
The tableau is where the columns of cards lie. The foundations are four spots, usually in the top right, where cards are built up by suit from ace to king. The stock is the pile of face down cards you draw from when the table runs out of moves.
Building down means placing a card one lower on another, a nine on a ten for example. Many solitaires also ask for alternating colours, red then black. By suit we mean the symbol: hearts, diamonds, spades or clubs.
Klondike: the best known solitaire
In Klondike the table holds seven columns. The first has one card and the seventh has seven, with only the top card of each face up. The rest of the deck waits in the corner.
You build the columns down from the king in alternating red and black. You may move a whole face up run, and when a face down card is freed, you turn it over. An empty column takes only a king or a run that starts with one. When you get stuck, you turn cards from the stock, one or three at a time depending on the version.
The game is won when all four suits sit on the foundations from ace to king. Not every deal can be solved, and that is normal: even experienced players lose some.
Spider: two decks and ten columns
Spider is played with two decks across ten columns. There are no foundations to build by hand. The goal is a complete king to ace run in one suit, and such a run leaves the table on its own.
You may build on any suit, but only a run of one suit moves together. When you run out of moves, you deal a new row from the stock, one card on each column. A one suit version such as Spider Solitaire 1 suit is a good start, while classic Spider with more suits takes far more planning.
FreeCell: solitaire without luck
In FreeCell every card is face up from the start, spread over eight columns. Four free cells wait in the top left, each holding one card for a while.
You move one card at a time and build down in alternating colours. Almost every FreeCell deal can be won, so this solitaire rewards planning rather than luck. That is why players who like to think a few moves ahead love it.
Other layouts in brief
Pyramid asks for pairs that add up to thirteen, so it is more about counting than building. Try Pyramid when you want something different. TriPeaks and Golf are quick solitaires where you take a card one higher or lower than the open one, and Double TriPeaks is a good example.
Rules vary from layout to layout, but the terms in this guide apply almost everywhere. Each game page says what is special about that particular game.
Tips for winning more deals
Uncover face down cards in the longest columns first, that is where most of the game hides. Do not spend an empty column until you have a smart move for it. Send aces and twos to the foundations at once, but hold back higher cards while you still need them for building.
One tip works for every version: before a move, look at what it opens, not only where the card goes. That habit alone wins more games.
One deal, then another
Solitaire is at its best without hurry. Start with Klondike if you are new, move to FreeCell when you want more logic, and keep Spider for days when patience is plentiful.
Every version is free and runs in your browser with nothing to install. The Solitaire world keeps them all in one place, sorted by variant.