How to play Solitaire
A complete guide to Klondike, the Solitaire everyone knows: the layout, the rules, the two ways of drawing from the stock, and the habits that turn more deals into wins.
In one paragraph. Move all 52 cards onto the four foundations, one per suit, from Ace up to King. On the seven columns of the tableau, build down in alternating colours - a red 6 on a black 7 - and move whole runs from column to column to uncover the face-down cards. When you are out of moves, turn over cards from the stock. A win is worth 1 point in Draw 1 and 2 in Draw 3.
The layout
- The tableau - seven columns across the table. The first holds one card, the last seven; only the bottom card of each is dealt face up.
- The foundations - four empty places at the top left, where the suits are built up from their Aces.
- The stock - the 24 cards left over, face down at the top right.
- The waste - where the cards turned over from the stock land, next to it. Only its top card can be played.
The rules
- Building the columns. A card goes onto a column whose bottom card is one rank higher and of the other colour: a black 9 onto a red 10, then a red 8 onto the black 9, and so on down to the Ace.
- Moving runs. A face-up card moves together with every card on top of it, as long as it lands on a legal card. That is how cards travel between columns.
- Uncovering cards. When the last face-up card leaves a column, the face-down card under it turns over by itself.
- Empty columns. Only a King - alone or at the head of a run - may be moved into an empty column.
- The foundations. Each starts with an Ace and grows by suit: A, 2, 3 ... up to King. Any top card of a column, and the top of the waste, can go there. A card can also come back down from a foundation onto a column when you need it there.
- The stock. Tap it to turn cards over onto the waste. When it is empty, tap it again to turn the whole waste back over and go through it once more - as many times as you like.
- Winning. Get every card onto the foundations. Once nothing is face down and the stock is empty, the game finishes by itself.
Draw 1 and Draw 3
| Mode | How the stock works | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Draw 1 | One card at a time. Going through the stock again, you will meet every card, so nothing stays out of reach for long. | 1 |
| Draw 3 | Three cards at a time, and only the top one can be played. A card in the middle of a group only comes up once the cards around it change - by playing the top card, the grouping on the next pass shifts. | 2 |
Draw 3 is the classic harder game: the same deal can be easy in Draw 1 and a real puzzle in Draw 3. In both modes there is no limit on passes through the stock.
Playing on Lynxy
- Tap a card to send it where it fits best: to a foundation if it can go there, otherwise onto the first column that takes it. A King goes to an empty column. A card with nowhere to go gives a small shake.
- Drag a card - and the cards on top of it - to put it exactly where you want. The pile under it lights up when it can be dropped there.
- Tap the stock to draw; when it is empty the same tap turns the waste over.
- Undo takes back the last move, a draw included. It is free and unlimited.
- Hint lights up a move - the first step of a line that still wins, whenever the solver finds one in time. If a card from the stock is needed, the stock lights up. Hints are free and unlimited.
- Pause covers the table and stops the clock.
- On a computer, Tab moves between the cards you can play, Enter or Space plays the one in focus, and Ctrl + Z (⌘ + Z on a Mac) undoes.
Every deal can be won
A fair share of shuffles cannot be won by anyone, even knowing where every card lies, and many more are lost to a single early choice. The deals here are picked from shuffles that a solver has already played to the end - each winning line replayed card by card under the game's own rules - so a lost game is always one that could have gone the other way. The deal number is shown above the table.
Strategy: how to win more games
1. Uncover the face-down cards first
The hidden cards are the whole difficulty of Klondike. Given a choice, make the move that turns a card over - and prefer the column with the most face-down cards, where the cards you need are most likely buried.
2. Play from the tableau before the stock
A move from the columns can open something new; a card from the waste only adds to a column. Look over the whole tableau before you tap the stock.
3. Do not empty a column without a King to put there
An empty column only takes a King. Emptying one is worth it when a King is ready to move in - ideally one with a face-down pile behind it - otherwise the space sits unused.
4. Choose your King by colour
If two Kings could fill an empty column, look at what is waiting: a red Queen needs a black King, a black Queen a red one. Take the King that lets the next cards follow.
5. Send low cards home early, high cards late
Aces and twos belong on the foundations at once - nothing can be built on them in the columns. Middle cards can still be useful as a place to park the next lower card; moving them home too soon can leave a card of the other colour with nowhere to go.
6. In Draw 3, count the stock
In Draw 3, playing one card from the waste shifts every group of three behind it. If a card you need is stuck in the middle of a group, playing a card from the waste now can bring it to the top on the next pass.
7. Try, look, undo
Undo is free. When you are unsure which of two moves is better, play one, see what it turns over, and take it back if it was the wrong road.
A short history
Solitaire card games - patience - appear in European books from the late eighteenth century, and by the nineteenth were a fashionable pastime, with dozens of variations. Klondike is named after the Klondike gold rush in Canada at the end of the 1890s, and it became the best known of them all in 1990, when a version shipped with Windows 3.0 to teach a generation of computer users to drag with a mouse. It has been one of the most played computer games in the world ever since.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Solitaire free?
Yes. Both modes are free, there is no account and nothing to buy. The game is paid for by the advertising described in our Privacy Policy.
Can every game be won?
Yes, every deal handed out here has been won by a solver before you see it. A wrong choice can still leave you with no moves; then undo and try another way, or ask for a hint.
What is the difference between Draw 1 and Draw 3?
How many cards the stock turns over at a time. In Draw 1 every card of the stock can be reached; in Draw 3 only every third one, until playing a card shifts the groups. Draw 3 is harder and worth 2 points a win instead of 1.
How many times can I go through the stock?
As many times as you like, in both modes.
How many points can I earn?
One point for each game won in Draw 1 and two in Draw 3, however long it took and whatever help you used. The total is a personal counter kept in your browser, not a ranking, and it has no monetary value.
Is my progress saved?
Yes. The game in progress with its undo history and timer, your points, wins and best times live in your browser's local storage. Close the tab and the table is waiting when you come back. Clearing your browser data or playing in private mode erases it.
Can I play offline?
Once the page has loaded, the game needs no connection - everything, the solver included, runs in your browser. Only the advertisement and the measurement need the network.