Spider Solitaire
Spider solitaire uses two decks and ten columns. Build descending sequences and, when a run reaches King down to Ace in a single suit, it is removed from the board. Clear all eight runs to win. Start on one suit, move to two when it stops being a challenge, and take four suits when you want the hardest common patience there is.
1 suit. Eight sets of spades. Every descending sequence is automatically a movable run, so the game is about column management rather than suit-matching. The usual first game.
Your statistics · 1 suit
- Played
- 0
- Won
- 0
- Win rate
- 0%
- Streak
- 0
- Best streak
- 0
- Best time
- —
Kept in this browser, on this device only. Abandoning a deal in progress counts as a loss, so the win rate means something.
Today’s deal
Everyone playing Spider Solitaire today gets deal #4136628247. It changes at midnight UTC.
Track the month on the daily challenge page.
Replay a deal
Every deal is a pure function of its number, so deal #20260726 is the same shuffle on any device, any time.
Keyboard
- U / Z
- Undo
- R
- Redo
- H
- Hint
- N
- New deal (asks first)
- F
- Full screen
- Space
- Turn the stock
- Esc
- Deselect, or leave full screen
- Deck
- 104 cards, two decks
- Tableau
- 10 columns, 54 cards
- Stock
- 50 cards, dealt 10 at a time
- Goal
- 8 complete King-to-Ace runs
How does spider solitaire work?
Ten columns are dealt 54 cards — six each in the first four columns, five in the rest — with only the last card of each column face up. The other 50 cards stay in the stock. You stack cards downward by rank, and here is the rule that catches everyone: any card may sit on a card one rank higher regardless of suit, but only a same-suit sequence can be picked up and moved as a group. Mixed stacks are legal; they are just frozen.
When a column contains a complete King-down-to-Ace run in one suit, that run is lifted off automatically. Eight of them and the game is won.
Why won't spider solitaire deal from the stock?
Because a column is empty. The standard rule forbids dealing while any column is empty — every column must receive a card. The stock holds exactly 50 cards and deals ten at a time, so you get precisely five deals in a game. Fill the empty column, then deal.
What is the difference between 1, 2 and 4 suit spider?
| Suits | Deck | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 suit | Eight sets of spades | Every descending run is movable. Pure column management. |
| 2 suits | Four sets each of spades and hearts | Half your descending runs are unmovable mixed stacks. |
| 4 suits | Two full decks | A run is only movable if all of it is one suit — most sequences you build are dead weight. |
The suit count is not a cosmetic difficulty slider; it changes which moves exist. One suit is a solvable puzzle for most deals. Four suits is genuinely hard, and unwinnable deals are common.
How is spider solitaire scored?
The board uses Microsoft's scoring, which is the one most players recognise: you start at 500, lose 1 point per move, and gain 100 for each completed suit run. A perfect game would therefore finish above 1,000. Because moves cost points, undoing a bad line is free but wandering is not.
How do you get better at spider?
- Empty a column before you dealThe stock deals onto every column at once, and it will bury your work. An empty column is the only place to unload a mixed stack afterwards.
- Build in suit even when it is slowerA nine on a ten of the same suit can be moved later; a nine on a foreign ten cannot. In four-suit spider, an off-suit placement is usually a card you have thrown away.
- Dig out the longest buried column firstFace-down cards are the real opponent. The column with the most of them will strand you late, so open it while you still have somewhere to put things.
- Do not chase a run to the Ace too earlyCompleting a run removes thirteen cards, which is good — but only if the columns you emptied to do it are still usable. Count the cost first.
Spider Solitaire questions people ask
- Can you move a mixed-suit sequence in spider solitaire?
- No. You can build one — a red nine on a black ten is a legal placement — but only a run entirely in one suit can be lifted and moved as a group. Everything else moves one card at a time.
- How many cards are in spider solitaire?
- 104: two full decks. In the one-suit game those 104 cards are eight copies of the thirteen spades; in two-suit, four each of spades and hearts.
- How many times can you deal from the stock?
- Five. The stock holds 50 cards and deals ten at a time, one per column.
- Is four-suit spider solitaire always winnable?
- No. Many four-suit deals cannot be won however well you play. That is why the undo button here is unlimited — treat a four-suit game as a puzzle you are allowed to backtrack in.
The rules in six lines
- 1Deal 54 cards into ten columnsSix cards each into the first four columns and five into the other six, all face down except the last card of each column.
- 2Build down by rank, any suitPlace any card on a card one rank higher. Suit does not matter for placement.
- 3Move only same-suit runs as a groupA sequence can be picked up together only if every card in it shares a suit and the ranks descend by one.
- 4Empty columns take anythingUnlike Klondike, any card or movable run may go into an empty column. Empty columns are the most valuable resource in the game.
- 5Deal ten more when stuckClick the stock to deal one card face up onto every column. You may not deal while any column is empty.
- 6Complete eight King-to-Ace runsA finished suited run from King down to Ace is removed automatically. Clear all eight to win.
The long version, with worked examples and the questions beginners actually ask, is on how to play spider solitaire.
Put Spider Solitaire on your own site
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<p style="font:14px system-ui;margin:6px 0 0"><a href="https://www.cardgamenook.com/spider-solitaire">Play Spider Solitaire</a> at Card Game Nook</p>