Klondike Solitaire

How to Play Klondike Solitaire

The Goal of the Game

Klondike Solitaire is the classic card game most people simply call "Solitaire". You play with one standard deck of 52 cards, and your goal is simple to say but not always easy to do: move all 52 cards onto the four foundation piles. Each foundation holds one suit, built in order from the Ace up to the King. When every card has reached a foundation, you win the game.

In this Turn 1 version, the stock deals one card at a time, which makes it the friendliest way to play Klondike. Every card that comes off the stock is immediately visible and playable, so you always know exactly what you are working with.

The Layout

When a new game starts, the cards are dealt into four areas. It helps to know each one by name:

• Tableau: the seven columns across the middle of the table. The first column gets 1 card, the second gets 2, and so on up to 7 cards in the last column. Only the top card of each column is dealt face up; the rest stay face down until you uncover them. This is where most of the play happens.
• Stock: the face-down pile in the corner holding the 24 cards left over after the deal. You turn cards from the stock when you need new options.
• Waste: the face-up pile next to the stock. Cards you turn from the stock land here, and the top card of the waste is always available to play.
• Foundations: the four empty spaces at the top. Each one will hold a full suit, starting with its Ace and ending with its King.

How to Move Cards

The rules for moving cards are the heart of the game. Here is exactly what you can do:

• Build the tableau down in alternating colors. A card may be placed on a tableau card that is one rank higher and the opposite color. For example, a red 7 can go on a black 8, and a black Queen can go on a red King.
• Move sequences together. If several face-up cards in a column already form a proper run (descending rank, alternating colors), you can pick up the whole run and move it as one unit. You can also move just part of a run, as long as the card you grab starts a valid sequence.
• Only Kings fill empty columns. When a tableau column becomes completely empty, only a King (alone or with the run stacked on it) may be moved there. No other card can start an empty column.
• Flip face-down cards. When you move the last face-up card off a column, the face-down card beneath it turns over automatically and becomes playable.
• Build the foundations up by suit. Each foundation starts with an Ace and climbs in order: Ace, 2, 3, and so on up to the King, all in the same suit. You can play cards to the foundations from the tableau or from the top of the waste pile.
• Foundation cards can come back. If you need a card that is already on a foundation, you may move it back down to the tableau, as long as it fits the normal alternating-color rule there.

The Stock and Redeals

Whenever you are out of moves on the table, click or tap the stock to turn over the next card. In Turn 1, exactly one card is flipped onto the waste pile each time, and that card is immediately playable. If you cannot use it, turn the next one.

When the stock runs out, simply tap the empty stock spot and the entire waste pile flips back over to become the stock again, in the same order. You may go through the stock as many times as you like — redeals are unlimited in this version. Because every pass shows you every remaining card one at a time, no card in the stock is ever truly out of reach.

How to Win

You win the moment all 52 cards are sitting on the foundations — four complete suits, each running from Ace to King. In practice, the real battle is uncovering all the face-down cards in the tableau. Once every card is face up, the finish is usually just a matter of playing everything home in order.

1. Uncover face-down tableau cards by moving the cards on top of them.
2. Use the stock and waste to find the cards you are missing.
3. Feed Aces and low cards to the foundations, then build each suit up to its King.

Controls on This Site

You can drag and drop any card or sequence with your mouse or finger. Even faster: double-click (or double-tap on a touch screen) a card and it will fly to its foundation automatically if it fits. The buttons above the table give you New for a fresh deal, Undo and Redo to step backward and forward through your moves (undo is unlimited), Hint to highlight a useful move, and Auto-finish to play out the ending for you once the game is clearly won. Every deal also has a seed number, so you can replay the exact same deal and try a different line of play.

Klondike Solitaire Strategy & Tips

Start Every Game the Right Way

• Flip a stock card early. Before committing to tableau moves, turn the first card from the stock. Knowing one extra card often changes which move is best, and in Turn 1 it costs you nothing.
• Scan the whole board first. Look at every face-up card before your first move. Order matters: the same set of moves in a different sequence can uncover one more hidden card.
• Play Aces and 2s to the foundations right away. They almost never help you in the tableau, and getting them up early clears space.

Uncover Face-Down Cards Above All

• Every move should have a purpose. The best purpose is turning a face-down card face up. Given two legal moves, prefer the one that reveals a hidden card.
• Attack the big piles first. The columns on the right hide the most cards (up to six face down). Digging into them early gives you more time to use what you find.
• Do not empty a column without a King ready. An empty space you cannot fill is wasted work. Only clear a column when a King (ideally with a useful run attached) is waiting to move in.
• Choose your King wisely. When two Kings compete for one space, pick the one whose matching Queen of the opposite color is available or close to available, so the new column can grow.

Do Not Rush the Foundations

• Keep 3s, 4s, and 5s in the tableau a little longer. A card sent to the foundation can no longer hold other cards. If you send a red 4 up too soon, a black 3 may have nowhere to go later. Aces and 2s are safe to send immediately; middle cards deserve a moment of thought.
• Build foundations evenly. Running one suit far ahead of the others starves the tableau. Try to keep the four foundations within a rank or two of each other.
• Remember you can bring cards back down. If you need a foundation card in the tableau, this version lets you retrieve it. That safety net makes early foundation plays less risky, but moving cards twice still costs tempo.

Use the Tools You Have

• Cycle the stock freely. With one card at a time and unlimited redeals, you see everything. Take a full pass through the stock just to learn where key cards are hiding before you commit to a plan.
• Undo is a thinking tool, not cheating. If a move reveals a card that ruins your plan, undo and try another order. Exploring lines this way teaches you to read the board faster.
• Hold off on Auto-finish until it is truly safe. Use it once every card is face up and the stock holds nothing you still need in the tableau.
• Replay tough seeds. A deal that beat you is a free lesson. Replay the same seed and test whether a different early choice — a different King, a delayed foundation play — turns a loss into a win.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Solitaire Games