How to play Solitaire

Move all 52 cards onto four suit piles, from Ace to King. Here is how the cards move, how the stock works, and how to win more often.

The layout

Klondike Solitaire uses one ordinary pack of 52 cards, with no jokers. To start, 28 cards are dealt into seven columns: one card in the first column, two in the second, and so on up to seven in the last. Only the front card of each column is face up; the rest lie face down underneath.

The other 24 cards are the stock, a face-down pile in the top left corner. Next to it is the pile of cards you have turned up from the stock. In the top right are four empty spaces, one for each suit: the suit piles, which some books call the foundations.

The goal

You win when all 52 cards are on the suit piles: each pile starts with its Ace and is built up in order, 2, 3, 4 and so on to the King, all of one suit.

How cards move in the columns

In the columns, cards are built down, one rank at a time, in alternating colours. A red 6 (hearts or diamonds) can go on a black 7 (spades or clubs); a black 9 can go on a red 10. A Queen goes on a King of the other colour, and nothing goes on an Ace.

The 7♠ can move onto the 8♦: black on red, one rank lower. The whole run 9♣ 8♥ 7♠ could also move together onto a red 10, such as the 10♥, which would turn over the hidden card under the 9♣.

You can move a face-up card together with all the cards on top of it, as long as the card at the head of the group fits where you put it. When you move the last face-up card off a column, the hidden card underneath turns over. Turning over hidden cards is how you make progress.

When a column is completely empty, only a King may go into it, either alone or with the cards on it.

The stock

When you have no useful moves, turn cards from the stock. In draw 1, each turn shows one new card. In draw 3, three cards are turned together and only the top one is playable; the others become playable once the cards above them have been used.

The top turned-up card can go onto a column or up to its suit pile. When the stock is empty, turn the whole turned-up pile over to make a new stock and go through it again. On this site you can go through the stock as many times as you like.

The suit piles

As soon as an Ace is free, it can start its suit pile. After that, the next card of the same suit goes on top: the 2 of hearts on the Ace of hearts, then the 3 of hearts. Cards go up one at a time, from the front of a column or from the turned-up pile.

A card on a suit pile can also come back down onto a column if you need somewhere to put a lower card. It is rarely needed, but it can rescue a game.

Winning the game

Once every card on the table is face up and the stock is used up, the game is as good as won: every card can go up in order. Here, the last cards then go up to their piles by themselves.

Tips to win more games

Turn over hidden cards first. A move that uncovers a card is almost always better than one that just tidies up. Work on the longest columns, where the most cards are hidden.
Send Aces and 2s up straight away. They are never needed in the columns.
Don’t rush the higher cards up. A 6 on its suit pile cannot hold a 5 of the other colour in a column. Move cards up when nothing on the table still needs them.
Only empty a column for a King. An empty column is useful only if a King is ready to go into it; otherwise it is wasted space.
Choose your King with care. If both a red and a black King could go into an empty column, pick the one whose Queen of the other colour you can see.
Play from the stock with a purpose. In draw 3 especially, using one card from the turned-up pile changes which cards you will see next time round.
Use Undo to explore. Undo here takes back anything, so try a line and come back if it goes nowhere.

How hard is it?

With a fully shuffled pack, most Klondike deals can be won with perfect play, but some cannot, and you cannot tell which by looking. On this site every deal has been played through by the computer and won before you see it, so a win is always possible. Draw 1 is the gentler game; draw 3 asks for more planning, because the cards you need can be stuck in the stock behind others.

Draw 1 or draw 3?

If you are learning, or want a calm game, choose draw 1: you see every card in the stock on each pass. If you remember the Windows game and like a challenge, choose draw 3, which was its standard setting.

Where to play

Start with Klondike Solitaire, draw 1. When you are ready, try draw 3. If you enjoy patience games, Spider Solitaire is the next one to learn.