How to Play Solitaire: A Beginner’s Guide to Klondike

Solitaire looks like a jumble of cards until someone tells you what each pile is for. Once you know that, the rules fit on an index card. This guide covers Klondike, the game most people mean when they say "solitaire," and then plays the first moves of a real deal with you.

The goal

Move all 52 cards onto four piles, one for each suit, in order from Ace to King. That is the whole objective. Everything else on the table is there to help you dig the cards out in the right order.

The four parts of the table

The tableau is the row of seven columns across the middle. The first column has one card, the second has two, and so on up to seven. Only the last card in each column is face up. The other 21 are face down, and turning them over is most of the work.

The foundations are the four empty spaces in the top-right corner. Each one takes a single suit, starting with the Ace. When all four have a King on top, you have won.

The stock is the face-down pile in the top-left corner: the 24 cards that were not dealt to the tableau. Tap it to turn cards over.

The waste sits next to the stock. Cards you turn over land here, and the top one is always available to play.

The rules, in plain English

• Build down, alternate colors. On the tableau, a card goes on the next-higher card of the opposite color. A red 6 (hearts or diamonds) goes on a black 7 (clubs or spades). A black Jack goes on a red Queen.
• Move runs as a block. If a column ends in black 9, red 8, black 7, you can move all three onto a red 10 in one go.
• Uncovered cards flip. When you move the last face-up card off a column, the face-down card underneath turns over. In this game it happens automatically.
• Only Kings start empty columns. If you clear a column completely, the space can only take a King, or a run that begins with one.
• Foundations build up by suit. Ace of hearts, then 2 of hearts, then 3 of hearts. Aces go up the moment you see them.
• The stock can be reused. When it runs out, tap the empty space and the waste turns back over into a fresh stock. Here you can do that as many times as you like.

Draw 1 or Draw 3?

In Draw 1 each tap turns over one card, so every card in the stock comes up on every pass. In Draw 3 each tap turns over three, fanned out, and you can only play the top one. A card in the middle of a group stays out of reach until you play the card on top of it. Start with Draw 1. Switch to Draw 3 when you find yourself winning most games and wanting more of a fight.

Your first game, move by move

Let's play the start of deal #12 together. Open it, make sure Draw 1 is selected, and you will see these face-up cards across the seven columns, left to right:

6♥ · 10♦ · 9♠ · A♣ · 2♣ · A♦ · 7♠

Here is how a seasoned player would read that table:

1. Aces first. Send the A♣ from column four to a foundation. The card underneath flips: the 5♠.
2. Follow the suit. The 2♣ in column five can now go on the A♣. Column five turns over the 3♥.
3. The other Ace. The A♦ from column six goes up too, and the Q♦ appears under it.
4. Build on the tableau. The 9♠ in column three fits on the 10♦ in column two (black on red, one lower). Column three flips the 9♥.
5. One more. The 5♠ in column four fits on the 6♥ in column one. Column four turns up the J♦.

Five moves, and five face-down cards have been turned over. Now look for more tableau moves. The 3♥ needs a black 4, the Q♦ needs a black King, the 7♠ needs a red 8. None are showing, so it is time for the stock.

Tap the stock. The 2♥ comes up, but the A♥ isn't out yet, so it waits. Tap again: the 4♠, nowhere to go. Tap again: the 4♦, which goes on the 5♠ in column one. Keep drawing and the 8♣ fits on the 9♥ in column three. Two cards later the A♠ appears and goes straight up, and the very next card, the 7♦, lands on that 8♣.

That is the rhythm of the whole game: play everything the tableau offers, then turn the stock until something useful shows up, then go back to the tableau. Our solver has won this deal at both Draw 1 and Draw 3, so you can finish it from here.

Five habits that help from day one

1. Play every Ace and 2 straight away. They never block anything.
2. Prefer moves that flip a card. A face-down card you turn over is new information and a new option.
3. Work on the columns with the most hidden cards. The right-hand columns hide the most, and the game is usually decided there.
4. Don't empty a column unless a King is ready to move in. Only a King can fill it.
5. Use the tableau before the stock. Turn the stock when the table has nothing useful left.

Ready for more? Our Klondike strategy guide has 12 tips with worked examples, including when not to put a card on the foundation.

When you get stuck

Every player gets stuck. Here are your options, from gentlest to most drastic:

• Hint (or press H) highlights a move. When the solver can find a win from where you are, the hint is the first move of that winning line.
• Undo (or Ctrl+Z, Cmd+Z on a Mac) takes moves back, up to 500 of them. Going back five moves and trying something else is how most people learn.
• Restart puts the same deal back to the beginning.
• New deals a fresh game.

Some deals can't be won at all, no matter how well you play. That is why the "Winnable deals only" setting is on by default here: new games come from deals our solver has already beaten. If you are curious how often a random deal is a dud, see the odds of winning solitaire.

Solitaire glossary

Klondike

The standard solitaire game described here: seven columns, a stock, four foundations. Also called Patience in Britain.

Tableau

The main playing area: the seven columns where you build down in alternating colors.

Column (or pile)

One of the seven stacks in the tableau.

Foundation

One of the four piles where you build each suit up from Ace to King. Filling all four wins the game.

Stock

The face-down pile of undealt cards you turn over during play.

Waste (or talon)

The face-up pile where cards from the stock land. Only its top card can be played.

Run (or sequence, build)

A stack of face-up cards in descending order and alternating colors, like black 9, red 8, black 7. It moves as one unit.

Face-down card

A hidden card in the tableau. It turns face up when the cards above it are moved away.

Draw 1 / Draw 3

How many cards each tap of the stock turns over. Draw 3 is harder, since only the top card of each three is playable.

Pass (or redeal)

One trip through the stock. When it runs out, the waste turns over and a new pass begins.

Auto-complete

When every card is face up and the stock and waste are empty, the game finishes the foundations for you.

Deal number

The number shown in the toolbar. It identifies the shuffle, so you can replay or share the exact same game.

Winnable deal

A deal our solver has won. With "Winnable deals only" turned on, every new game is one of these.