Solitaire
Solitaire (Klondike) is the classic single-player card game. Sort all 52 cards into four foundation piles by suit.
Key features
- Classic Klondike Solitaire rules
- Drag-and-drop card movement
- Draw-one stock with unlimited passes
- Undo for the last 20 moves
Guide
Klondike Solitaire is the most widely played single-player card game in the world. The name Klondike references the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s, though the exact origin of the game is unclear. Card solitaire games (also called patience games in British English) date back to at least the late 18th century in northern Europe, with the earliest written references appearing in German and Scandinavian game collections. Klondike became dominant in popular culture through its inclusion in Microsoft Windows starting with Windows 3.0 in 1990. The Windows Solitaire was programmed by intern Wes Cherry, who famously received no royalties despite creating one of the most-played games in computing history. The game was included to help users learn drag-and-drop mouse operations. Klondike uses a standard 52-card deck. The setup (called the tableau) consists of seven columns. Column 1 has one card, column 2 has two, column 3 has three, and so on up to column 7 with seven cards. Only the top card in each column is face-up. All other cards are face-down. The remaining 24 cards form the stock (draw pile). Above the tableau are four foundation piles, one for each suit. The goal is to build each foundation pile from Ace up to King in suit order: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King. Gameplay involves moving cards between tableau columns, from the stock to the tableau or foundations, and from the tableau to the foundations. Within the tableau, you build columns in descending order with alternating colors. A black 8 can be placed on a red 9. A red Queen can be placed on a black King. You can move single cards or sequences of properly ordered cards between columns. When a face-down card is exposed (the card above it is moved away), it is turned face-up. When a column becomes empty, only a King (or a sequence starting with a King) can be placed there. In Klondike the stock is drawn either one card at a time (Draw 1) or three cards at a time (Draw 3). The WebRecast version uses Draw 1. Draw 1 is significantly easier because you can access every card in the stock. Draw 3 is the traditional and more challenging variant because only every third card is immediately accessible. When drawing three, the third card in each group is the one available for play. The other two become accessible only as cards above them are played. When the stock is exhausted, it can be recycled (the waste pile is turned over to form a new stock). Some variants limit the number of recycles, while others allow unlimited passes. Win rates in Klondike Solitaire are a topic of ongoing mathematical interest. Computer analysis shows that roughly 79 to 82 percent of randomly dealt Klondike games are theoretically winnable with perfect play and complete information (seeing all face-down cards). In practice, because you cannot see face-down cards, actual win rates are much lower. Expert human players using Draw 1 win approximately 33 to 43 percent of games. With Draw 3, win rates drop to roughly 10 to 25 percent depending on whether unlimited passes through the stock are allowed. The most important strategic principle is to turn over face-down cards as quickly as possible. Face-down cards are hidden information. Every card you reveal expands your options and lets you plan further ahead. Prioritize moves that expose face-down cards over moves that do not. Moving a card from a column with many face-down cards to a column with fewer (or no) face-down cards is generally good because it accelerates information gathering. Not all Aces and 2s should go to the foundation immediately in all situations, though this is a common instinct. In general, moving Aces and 2s to foundations early is correct because they are never useful in the tableau (nothing builds on an Ace going downward). However, 3s, 4s, and higher cards should sometimes remain in the tableau to serve as building targets. Moving a red 4 to the foundation when you might need it to place a black 3 in the tableau can cost you. The guiding principle: only move a card to the foundation if you will not need it for tableau building. In practice, a safe foundation guideline is: you can always move a card to the foundation if both cards of the opposite color and one rank lower are already on their foundations. For example, you can safely move the 6 of Spades (black) to the foundation if both the 5 of Hearts and 5 of Diamonds (both red) are already on their foundations. This ensures the 6 of Spades is no longer needed in the tableau because any card that would have been placed on it (a red 5) is already in the foundation. Empty columns are extremely valuable. An empty column can accept a King, which then serves as a building base for a long descending sequence. When you have an empty column and a King available (either face-up in the tableau, in the stock, or by moving a sequence off another King), filling the empty column correctly extends your building options. Do not fill an empty column with a non-King card or a short sequence unless you have a specific tactical reason. The strategic value of empty columns increases on harder difficulty settings. King placement decisions are among the most consequential in a game. When you have a choice of which King to place in an empty column, consider which King enables access to the most face-down cards. Also consider color matching: if you have mostly red cards waiting to be built, you want a black King in the empty column to accept those red cards. Placing the wrong King can block your game for many turns. Stock management in Draw 3 is a skill in itself. Because you can only access every third card, the order matters. Counting cards as they pass through the stock helps you anticipate when needed cards will become available. After the first pass through the stock, you have seen all 24 stock cards and know their positions (in groups of three). Planning which cards to play from each group, and in what order, to shift the alignment of accessible cards is an advanced technique that significantly improves Draw 3 win rates. Undo functionality in browser Solitaire creates a fundamentally different game from physical card Solitaire. With unlimited undo, you can peek at face-down cards (by making moves, observing the revealed card, then undoing), effectively converting the game from imperfect information to perfect information. With perfect information, the theoretical win rate applies and most deals are solvable. Purist players avoid undo for face-down card reveals. Casual players use undo freely, and there is nothing wrong with that approach since the goal is enjoyment. Scoring in browser Solitaire typically follows one of two systems. Standard scoring awards points for each card moved to the foundation and deducts points for draws from the stock and for moving cards from the foundation back to the tableau. Timed scoring adds a time bonus that decreases as the game progresses, rewarding fast completion. Vegas scoring simulates a gambling scenario: you pay a fixed amount for the deck and earn money for each card placed on the foundation. Vegas mode often limits stock passes to one, making it extremely challenging. Keyboard controls and mouse interactions in browser Solitaire are straightforward. Click a card to select it, then click the destination to move it. Double-click a card to auto-send it to the foundation if possible. Click the stock pile to draw. Some implementations support drag-and-drop for moving cards between columns. Keyboard shortcuts vary: common mappings include Ctrl+Z for undo, N for new game, and H for hint. In versions that offer auto-complete, the feature detects when all face-down cards have been revealed and the game is clearly won, automatically moving all remaining cards to the foundations. The hint system in browser Solitaire highlights a suggested move when you are stuck. Hints are useful for learning but can be misleading because they typically suggest the first available legal move rather than the best strategic move. Use hints to identify moves you missed rather than as a strategic guide. A common situation: the hint suggests moving a card to the foundation when keeping it in the tableau would be strategically superior. Advanced strategy involves tracking which cards you have seen and which remain face-down. In a seven-column tableau with 21 face-down cards at the start, revealing those cards is your primary objective. Columns with more face-down cards deserve priority. A column with four face-down cards that requires removing one card to reveal the next is a better target than a column with one face-down card if both moves are otherwise equal, because the four-card column has more hidden information to unlock. Game-losing configurations to watch for include: all empty columns filled with Kings that block needed cards underneath, no legal moves remaining with unplayed stock cards inaccessible in Draw 3, and circular dependencies where card A needs to go on card B, but card B is under card A. Recognizing these dead-end patterns early lets you undo to a decision point and try a different line of play. Some deals are genuinely unsolvable from the start. If you have been playing optimally with undo and still cannot win, the deal may simply be one of the roughly 18 to 21 percent that are unwinnable. Spider Solitaire, FreeCell, and Pyramid are related solitaire variants often included in browser card game collections. FreeCell is notable because almost every deal (99.999 percent) is solvable, making it a more reliable test of skill compared to Klondike. If you enjoy Klondike but are frustrated by unwinnable deals, FreeCell offers a similar experience with near-guaranteed solvability. For beginners, the priority order of moves is: (1) always move an Ace to the foundation, (2) reveal face-down cards, (3) build tableau sequences that open face-down cards, (4) move cards from the stock to useful positions, (5) move to foundations only when safe, (6) create empty columns if possible. Following this priority list consistently produces better results than ad hoc decision-making. As you gain experience, you will learn when to deviate from the default priorities based on the specific board state.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Solitaire?
Build foundation piles from Ace to King by suit. Arrange tableau columns in descending order with alternating colors.
Is Solitaire free online?
Yes, play classic Klondike Solitaire for free in your browser.
