The full challenge
Four-suit Spider uses two complete packs: two of every card in spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. Runs must be built in one suit to move together and to leave the table, so with four suits most of your work is sorting. Experienced players win only some of their four-suit games, and that is what makes a win so satisfying.
Here you can take back any move, as many times as you like, so a game is never lost to one slip. When you are stuck, Hint looks several moves ahead and shows the most promising move it finds.
How to play
Spider is played with two packs of cards, 104 in all, laid out in ten columns. The goal is to build eight runs from King down to Ace, each in a single suit. A finished run leaves the table by itself; clear all eight and you win. The full rules, with tips.
- Moving cards. A card can go onto any card one rank higher, whatever its suit: a 7 onto an 8. A run of cards that are all one suit and in order moves together as one.
- Empty columns take any card or run. They are the most useful thing on the table.
- Dealing. When you run out of moves, Deal puts one new card on every column. There are five deals, and every column must have at least one card before you deal.
- Hidden cards turn over when the cards on top of them move away.
Controls
Tap or click a card and it moves to the best place for it, with cards of its own suit first. You can also drag a card or a run to the column you want. With a keyboard, Tab moves between the cards you can move and Enter moves one. D deals, H asks for a hint, U undoes and N starts a new deal.
Undo takes back any move, including a deal, as many times as you like. Hint looks ahead and shows a good next move, with a sentence that says why.
Tips for four suits
- Your first goal is an empty column. Clear the shortest columns first.
- Build on the same suit wherever you can, even when a different suit would turn over a card sooner.
- Keep Kings for empty columns only when they bring a run with them; a lone King in an empty column blocks it.
- Before dealing, tidy up: every run you have sorted will be covered by a new card.