Spider Solitaire

How to Play Spider Solitaire

What Is Spider Solitaire (1 Suit)?

Spider Solitaire is one of the most loved solitaire games in the world, and the 1 Suit version is the friendliest way to learn it. The game is played with two full decks, 104 cards in all, and in the 1 Suit version every card is a spade. Your goal is to arrange the cards into complete sequences running from King down to Ace. Each time you finish a full King-to-Ace run, it is removed from the table. Clear all eight runs and you win the game.

The Layout

Spider uses three areas on the table:

• The tableau. Ten columns of cards across the middle of the screen. The first four columns are dealt 6 cards each, and the remaining six columns are dealt 5 cards each, 54 cards in total. In each column only the top card (the one nearest to you) is face up; the rest are face down and hidden.
• The stock. The remaining 50 cards wait in a face-down pile, usually in a corner of the screen. You will deal from this pile during the game.
• The foundations. Eight spaces where completed King-to-Ace runs are placed as you finish them. Unlike many solitaire games, you never move single cards here; whole finished runs travel there on their own.

How to Move Cards

The rules of movement are simple:

• You may place a card on top of any card that is exactly one rank higher. A 7 can go on an 8, a Queen can go on a King, and so on. In the 1 Suit game every card is a spade, so you never have to think about suits or colors.
• Any face-up cards that sit in perfect descending order move together as a group. If a column ends in 9, 8, 7, you can pick up all three cards at once and place them on any 10.
• An Ace is the lowest card. Nothing can be placed on an Ace, and an Ace can only sit on a 2.
• An empty column accepts any card or any descending run. Empty columns are the most valuable spaces in the game, so use them wisely.
• When you move the last face-up card off a face-down card, the hidden card flips over and joins the game. Uncovering these hidden cards is how you make progress.

Dealing From the Stock

Spider has a special rule that surprises many new players. When you run out of useful moves, click (or tap) the stock pile. This deals one new card face up onto every one of the ten columns, all at the same time. Those ten new cards land on top of whatever you have built, so a stock deal can bury your tidy runs under random cards. Deal from the stock only when you are ready.

There is one restriction: you may not deal from the stock while any column is empty. Every column must contain at least one card before the stock will deal. If the deal button seems to be doing nothing, look for an empty column and place a card there first. The stock holds 50 cards, enough for five deals of ten cards each.

Completing Runs and Winning

Whenever you assemble a complete sequence from King at the top down to Ace at the bottom, all thirteen cards of the same suit in perfect order, the run is automatically swept off the table to a foundation. In the 1 Suit game every run is spades, so any King-to-Ace sequence you build will count.

The two decks contain exactly eight full suits, so there are eight runs to complete. You win the moment the eighth run leaves the table and the tableau is empty. If you reach a point where no moves are possible and the stock is empty, the game is over, but with unlimited undo you can always step back and try a different path.

Playing on This Site

Moving cards is easy: drag and drop a card or a run with your mouse or finger, or double-click (double-tap on touch screens) a card to send it automatically to the best available spot. Above the table you will find buttons for a New deal, Undo, Redo, a Hint when you cannot see a move, and Auto-finish to complete a clearly won game. Undo is unlimited, so you can rewind as far as you need. Every deal has a seed number as well, which means you can replay the very same shuffle and try to beat it with a smarter plan.

Spider Solitaire Strategy & Tips

Turn Over Hidden Cards First

At the start of the game 50 of your 104 cards are face down, and those hidden cards are where wins and losses are decided. Every card you flip gives you more information and more choices.

• When two moves look equal, choose the one that uncovers a face-down card.
• Favor the columns with the fewest hidden cards. The six columns dealt with 5 cards are the quickest to dig through and the fastest route to an empty column.
• A move that only shuffles face-up cards around, without flipping anything or building a longer run, usually wastes a turn.

Build on Higher Cards

Where you place a card matters, because low cards become dead ends quickly.

• Given a choice, move a card onto the higher of two possible targets. Placing a 7 on a 9-8 run keeps building room below; placing it elsewhere may block a column.
• Be careful about burying Kings and Queens under long piles. A King can never sit on anything, so a buried King often locks a column until you find an empty space for it.
• Aces and 2s pile up fast and fit almost nowhere. Park them thoughtfully rather than scattering them across your good columns.

Keep a Work Column

Experienced Spider players try to keep one column as a scratch pad, a place for awkward cards, while the other columns stay tidy.

• Sacrifice one column to hold the junk: out-of-order cards, spare Aces, cards you just need out of the way.
• Keep your remaining columns in clean descending order so they can be moved in large blocks later.
• It is far easier to fix one messy column at the end than nine slightly messy ones.

Empty Columns Win Games

An empty column is the most powerful resource in Spider. It can hold anything, which lets you split, rearrange, and rebuild runs almost at will.

• Work steadily toward emptying at least one column, then guard it. Do not fill it with the first card that comes along.
• Use an empty column as a temporary shelf: move a blocking card there, complete a run underneath, then deal with the shelf card later.
• With two empty columns you can untangle nearly any position, so it is often worth delaying other plans to create a second one.

Tidy Up Before Dealing From the Stock

Each stock deal drops a random card on all ten columns at once, burying everything you have built. Treat every deal as a small earthquake and prepare for it.

• Before you click the stock, make every safe move available: complete sequences, flip hidden cards, and gather cards into clean descending runs.
• Never deal while a long run is split across columns if you can join it first; after the deal, joining it becomes much harder.
• Delay each stock deal as long as you genuinely have useful moves, but do not fear it. Sometimes fresh cards are exactly what a stuck position needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

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