Play Klondike Turn 3 Online
Klondike Turn 3 is the game many people simply call 3 card solitaire. It was the default on the old Windows Solitaire, and it is the version most players picture when they think of the classic game. The table is the usual one, with 7 tableau columns, a stock, a waste pile and 4 foundations. The difference is the stock. Each click turns over 3 cards at once, and you may play only the card that lands on top.
That one rule makes the game noticeably harder than Klondike Turn 1. A card you can see in the waste may still be out of reach, and the order of the stock decides what you can reach on every pass. Start with a Winnable deal if you want a hand that is known to have a solution, or choose a Random deal for an ordinary shuffle.
How the Turn 3 Stock Works
The deal places 28 cards in the tableau and leaves 24 in the stock. When you click the stock, up to 3 cards turn over onto the waste in a small fan. Only the top card of that fan is playable. Once you play it, the card beneath it becomes available, and so on down the fan. When the stock is empty, click it again to turn the waste back over and start another pass.
Here is the part that catches new players. If you go through the stock without playing a single waste card, the next pass shows exactly the same top cards, because the stock is turned over in the same groups of 3. With a full 24-card stock, that means only 8 of those cards are ever on top. Playing one waste card shifts every later group by one position, so different cards come to the top for the rest of that pass.
Tableau and Foundations
Build the tableau down in alternating colors, such as a red 6 on a black 7. A run of face-up cards in that order can move together. Only a King, or a run headed by a King, can go into an empty column. The foundations build up by suit from Ace to King, and you win when all 52 cards are there.
Passes Through the Stock
With Standard scoring you can go through the stock as many times as you like. The first 3 passes are free, and each pass after that costs 20 points. Vegas scoring starts you at minus 52, pays 5 points for each card on a foundation and allows 3 passes through the stock. Vegas points are only a score. No money is involved.
Turn 3 Strategy That Actually Helps
Work the tableau before you touch the stock. Every face-down card you turn over is a card that is no longer stuck, and tableau moves do not disturb the waste order. When you do start drawing, pay attention to the first pass. In Standard scoring the first 3 passes cost nothing, so the first one is a free look at which cards are within reach.
- You do not have to play every waste card you can. Sometimes leaving a playable card in place keeps a more important card coming to the top on the next pass.
- When a card you need is buried in the middle of a group, playing one card earlier in the pass can shift it to the top. Count positions before you decide.
- Keep low cards out of the foundations if a lower card of the opposite color still needs somewhere to land in the tableau. A black 5 on the foundation cannot catch a red 4 later.
- Clear a column only when a King is ready to move into it. An empty column with no King to fill it does nothing for you in Klondike.
The guide to winning 3 card solitaire follows a real deal pass by pass, with screenshots of the packet shifts and deliberate skips described above.
Turn 3 Compared With Turn 1
Both games use the same deal, the same tableau rules and the same foundations. In Turn 1 every stock card becomes playable as you reach it, so you see the whole stock in order on each pass. Turn 3 hides 2 out of every 3 cards unless you play waste cards to change the grouping. That is why planning a few cards ahead pays off in Turn 3, and why the same opening can feel easy in Turn 1 and stubborn in Turn 3.
The two games keep separate statistics and separate leaderboards. A signed-in win counts there only when it comes from a Winnable deal and you finish without hints, undo or Auto finish. The Daily Challenge uses Turn 1, so everyone plays it under the same rules.
Checking a Turn 3 Deal
Winnable deals for Turn 3 are checked with the Turn 3 stock, so the solution uses the same waste order you see on screen. If you get stuck, press Is it winnable? to find out whether your position is still on a winning path. Show next move gives you one move from that solution, and a win after it counts as Assisted. Play it out finishes the deal for you, and that game counts as practice.
Turn 3 Questions
Why can't I play a card I can see in the waste?
In Turn 3 the waste is fanned so you can see up to 3 cards, but only the top one is in play. Play that card first and the next one becomes available.
Is 3 card solitaire harder than 1 card?
Yes. Fewer stock cards come within reach on each pass, so more deals stall. The tableau rules are identical, which makes Turn 3 a good next step once Turn 1 feels comfortable.
How many times can I go through the stock?
As often as you like with Standard scoring. The first 3 passes are free, and each one after that costs 20 points. Vegas scoring allows 3 passes.
Can every Turn 3 deal be won?
No shuffle guarantees it. A Winnable deal has a known solution from the opening, while a Random deal may have none. You can read more about how we check that a deal can be won.