How to Play Solitaire (Klondike)

When most people say “solitaire,” they mean Klondike: seven columns of cards, a deck to draw from, and four piles you build from Ace to King. It’s the game many of us learned at the kitchen table with a worn deck of cards, long before it showed up on computers. This page explains how to play solitaire from the first card dealt to the last card played, with examples along the way. These are the rules our free Klondike Solitaire game uses, and we point out where people commonly play a little differently.

What You Need

• One standard deck of 52 cards, with the jokers taken out.
• A table with room for seven columns of cards and a row of piles above them.
• About 5 to 15 minutes for a game.

Cards rank from low to high: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King. In Klondike the Ace is always low. Hearts ♥ and diamonds ♦ are the red suits; spades ♠ and clubs ♣ are the black suits. Color matters a great deal in this game, as you’ll see.

The Layout

Shuffle the deck and deal seven columns from left to right. This area is called the tableau.

1. Deal one card face up to start the first column, then one card face down to start each of the other six.
2. Go back to the second column and deal one card face up on it, then one face down on each column to its right.
3. Keep going, one row at a time, until every column has a face-up card on top.

When you’re done, the first column has 1 card and the seventh has 7, for 28 cards in all. Only the top card of each column is face up. The other 24 cards go face down in a pile at the top left. That pile is the stock, or simply the deck.

Above the columns, at the top right, leave room for four piles. These are the foundations, and they start empty.

The Goal: Build the Foundations

You win by moving all 52 cards onto the four foundations. Each foundation holds a single suit, built up in order: Ace first, then 2, then 3, and so on up to the King.

Whenever an Ace is free, meaning it’s face up on top of a column or on top of the waste pile, you can move it to an empty foundation. After that, the 2 of the same suit can go on it, then the 3, and so on.

Example: the A♥ is on a foundation. You turn up the 2♥ from the deck, so it goes on top. Later the 3♥ comes free at the bottom of a column, and that goes up too. The 3♦ can’t go on that pile, even though it’s red, because it’s the wrong suit.

Building Down in Alternating Colors

Most of the game happens in the seven columns. You may place a face-up card on top of a column if it is one rank lower and the opposite color of the card it goes on.

• A red 9 (9♥ or 9♦) can go on a black 10 (10♠ or 10♣).
• A black Jack can go on a red Queen.
• A black 4 can’t go on a black 5, because they’re the same color.
• A red 6 can’t go on a black 8, because it skips a rank.

Suits don’t matter in the columns, only color. So a column might run K♠, Q♥, J♣, 10♦, 9♠, all face up, each card overlapping the one before so you can see them all.

Moving Groups of Cards

You can move a whole run of face-up cards at once, as long as the run is in proper order and its top card fits where you put it. There’s no limit on how many cards you move this way.

Example: one column shows 8♣, 7♦, 6♠. Another column has a red 9, the 9♥, on top. Pick up the whole group starting at the 8♣ and place it on the 9♥. The black 8 fits on the red 9, so the 7♦ and 6♠ come along with it. You may also move just part of a run. Here you could move only the 7♦ and 6♠ onto a black 8 elsewhere.

Turning Over Face-Down Cards

When you move the last face-up card or cards off a column, turn over the face-down card underneath. Freeing these hidden cards is the heart of the game. Every card you uncover gives you new choices.

Empty Columns: Kings Only

If you clear every card out of a column, the space stays empty until you fill it with a King, or with a run of cards that starts with a King. No other card may go into an empty column.

House rule: some families let any card go into an empty column. It makes the game much easier. Our game follows the King-only rule. More in rule variations.

The Stock and the Waste

When you run out of useful moves in the columns, turn to the stock. Cards from the stock are turned face up onto a pile next to it, called the waste. The top card of the waste can be played onto a column or a foundation. Once you play it, the card under it becomes available.

Draw 1

You turn over one card at a time. Every card in the stock will be playable as it comes up, which makes Draw 1 the easier way to play. Our game starts in Draw 1.

Draw 3

You turn over three cards at a time, spreading them so you can see all three. Only the top card of the three can be played. If you play it, the one under it is free next.

Example: you turn over 5♣, Q♦, 8♥, with the 8♥ on top. You play the 8♥ on a black 9. Now the Q♦ is on top, but there’s no black King showing for it, so you turn three more cards. The 5♣ is buried again, and you’ll have to wait for another pass through the deck to reach it.

Redeals: Going Through the Deck Again

When the stock is empty, you can turn the whole waste pile over to make a new stock and go through it again. Each trip through the deck is called a pass. The cards come up in the same order as before, minus any you played.

How many passes you get depends on the rules you choose. In our game, passes are unlimited unless you turn on limited passes in Settings. With that option on, Draw 1 allows a single pass with no redeal, and Draw 3 allows three passes.

Moving a Card Back Off a Foundation

Sometimes you need a card that has already gone up. Our game lets you move the top card of a foundation back down onto a column, following the usual rule of one rank lower and opposite color. For example, if a red 6 is stuck with nowhere to go, bringing the 7♠ back down from its foundation gives it a home. Some people never allow this, so feel free to skip it if that’s how you learned.

Winning the Game

You win when all four foundations run from Ace to King. Once every card in the columns is face up, the game is as good as won, because nothing is hidden anymore. Our game notices this and finishes the deal for you, stacking the remaining cards on the foundations.

You lose when no moves are left and you can’t go through the deck again. Not every deal can be won, even with perfect play. Our game’s winnable deals option, which is on to start with, only gives you deals that its built-in solver has won with Draw 1 and unlimited passes.

Scoring

Many people play just to win, and that’s how our game starts: scoring is off. If you like a number to beat, turn on standard scoring in Settings. Points work like this:

Your score never drops below 0. Example: you move the 4♠ from the waste onto a red 5 (+5). That frees the 2♦ under it on the waste, which goes up on the A♦ (+10). Then you move a 7♣ from a column onto a red 8 and turn over the face-down card it was hiding (+5). That’s 20 points in a few moves. Read more about scoring options.

Playing on Our Site

• Tap a card and it moves to the best place. If there are several good places, they light up and you tap the one you want. You can also drag cards.
• Tap the deck to turn over cards.
• Auto-move to foundations is on to start with. Cards that are safe to put up go there by themselves. A card is only moved when no lower card of the opposite color still needs it, so a red 6 waits until both black 5s are up.
• Undo takes back moves with no limit, and Hint points out a useful move.

Solitaire Rules at a Glance

• One deck, 52 cards. Seven columns of 1 to 7 cards, top card face up. The other 24 cards are the stock.
• Build the four foundations up by suit, Ace to King.
• In the columns, build down by one rank in alternating colors.
• Move any proper run of face-up cards as a group.
• Turn over a face-down card when it’s uncovered.
• Only a King, or a run starting with a King, goes into an empty column.
• Turn cards from the stock one at a time (Draw 1) or three at a time (Draw 3). Play the top waste card.
• Turn the waste over for another pass, if your rules allow.
• Win by getting all 52 cards onto the foundations.

Once you know Klondike, you already know most of what you need for its cousins. FreeCell uses the same alternating-color columns but deals every card face up, and Spider Solitaire uses two decks and builds by suit. For tips on playing Klondike well, see our solitaire strategy guide.