How to Play Solitaire: Klondike Rules and Tips
Updated
In the US and Canada, solitaire usually means Klondike: you sort a shuffled 52-card deck onto four foundation piles, one per suit, from ace up to king. To get there, you build seven columns downward in alternating colors, turn over hidden cards and draw from the stock when you run out of moves. You win when all 52 cards sit on the foundations.
The layout
Deal the cards like this before the first move. Every Klondike game, on a table or on a screen, starts from the same four parts.
| Part | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Tableau | Seven columns: one card in the first, two in the second, up to seven in the last; only the last card of each column is face up |
| Stock | The other 24 cards, face down |
| Waste | Cards you turn over from the stock, face up |
| Foundations | Four empty piles, one per suit, built from ace to king |
The tableau holds 28 cards in total, and 21 of them start face down. Turning those hidden cards over is what the game is really about.
How to play Klondike, step by step
- Move any ace to an empty foundation, then build that pile up in the same suit: 2, 3 and so on to the king.
- In the tableau, put a card on one that is one rank higher and the opposite color, such as a black 6 on a red 7.
- Move a run of face-up cards together, as long as its highest card fits, for example a red 9, black 8 and red 7 onto a black 10.
- When you uncover a face-down card, turn it face up.
- Fill an empty column only with a king, or with a run that starts with a king.
- When you have no useful move, turn cards from the stock onto the waste. The face-up card on the waste can go to the tableau or to a foundation.
- When the stock is empty, turn the waste over to make a new stock. Some versions limit how many times you can do this.
- The game ends when all four foundations are complete, or when no moves are left.
Draw 1 vs draw 3
Many versions let you choose how many cards you turn from the stock at a time. This one setting changes the difficulty a lot.
| Setting | Draw 1 | Draw 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Cards turned per click | One | Three, and only the last one turned is playable |
| Stock cards you can reach on a pass | Every card | About every third card, unless playing one shifts the order |
| Difficulty | Easier | Harder |
Neither option is the one true rule. Some rulebooks treat draw 3 as the standard game and draw 1 as an easier version, and many computer versions let you pick either.
Rules on passes differ too. You may meet unlimited passes, three passes or a single pass through the stock, so check the game's settings before you start.
Classic Solitaire Master lets you draw one card for a calmer game or three for a challenge. Solitaire Treasures plays draw 1 and deals only winnable games.
Habits that win more games
- Send aces and twos to the foundations as soon as they appear. They are never needed in the tableau.
- Prefer moves that turn over a face-down card. When you have a choice, play from the column with the most hidden cards.
- Do not empty a column just to empty it. Only a king can move into the space, so clear a column when a king is ready to fill it.
- Think twice before sending a middle card, such as a 6, to a foundation. You may need it in the tableau to hold a 5 of the other color.
- In draw 3, every card you play from the waste changes which cards you will see on the next pass. When passes are unlimited, go through the stock once and look before you commit.
- Use undo and hints when the game has them. Solitaire 8 Collection has free hints and unlimited undo, and Klondike Solitaire Treasures lets you undo any move.
Play Klondike in your browser
Every game below includes classic Klondike. Solitaire: Card Master adds auto-complete for the last moves, and Solitaire The Collection packs 33 variants, including Klondike with draw one or three. All six play free in a browser tab, and none asks for an install or a registration.
More card and tile games are in the puzzles category, and the tile-matching cousin of these games is covered in how to play mahjong solitaire.
Spider and FreeCell in one minute
Spider and FreeCell are two other solitaires you will meet often. Both keep the idea of building down in the tableau, but the details change the whole game.
| Feature | Spider | FreeCell |
|---|---|---|
| Cards | Two decks, 104 cards | One deck, 52 cards |
| Layout | Ten columns, most cards face down | Eight columns, every card face up |
| Building | Down in rank; only runs of one suit move together | Down in alternating colors, as in Klondike |
| Goal | Build eight runs from king to ace in one suit; each full run leaves the table | Move every card to four foundations, ace to king |
| What helps | One, two or four suits set the difficulty | Four free cells, each holding one card |
Almost every FreeCell deal can be solved, so it rewards planning rather than luck. Try it in Solitaire Freecell Frenzy. The Spider Solitaire offers one, two or four suits, so you can start with one suit and move up.
Common questions about solitaire
Is every solitaire game winnable?
No. Not every Klondike deal can be won, and nobody knows the exact share. Even a player who could see every face-down card would win only about 82 percent of draw-3 deals, according to estimates, and real games come out lower.
Some games remove the luck of the deal. Solitaire Treasures deals only winnable games, Klondike Solitaire Treasures has a Winnable games only mode, and Solitaire 8 Collection takes its deals from a list checked to have a solution.
What can go in an empty column?
Only a king, or a run of cards that starts with a king. Any other card has to wait.
Is draw 3 harder than draw 1?
Yes. With draw 3 you reach only about every third card in the stock on each pass, so you have fewer choices and more deals end without a win.
Why is it called solitaire?
Solitaire is the American name for card games you play alone, and in Britain they are called patience. Klondike became so widely played that in the US and Canada, solitaire with no other name usually means Klondike.
Learn the layout and the draw setting, and the rest of Klondike comes down to turning hidden cards over one move at a time.
