Solitaire Guides
Rules and strategy for every game on the site, with screenshots from real deals. Start with the types guide if you are not sure which game you want.
Start here
- Types of Solitaire: the main variations explained
Where the cards finish in each family of games and which one to try first.
How to play
- How to play Solitaire (Klondike)
The deal, the stock and waste, Turn 1 or Turn 3 and how scoring works. - How to play Spider Solitaire
Two decks, 10 columns and suited runs, in the 1, 2 and 4 suit games. - How to play Spiderette Solitaire
Spider on a single deck, with 7 columns and a short final deal. - How to play Simple Simon Solitaire
No stock and every card face up across 10 uneven columns. - How to play FreeCell
Every card face up, 4 free cells and how big a run you can move. - How to play Penguin Solitaire
David Parlett's game of the beak and the flipper. - FreeCell variants (Baker's Game, Eight Off and more)
Baker's Game, Eight Off, Seahaven Towers and the rest, one rule change at a time. - How to play Pyramid Solitaire
Pairs that add up to 13 and the order to take the pyramid apart. - How to play TriPeaks Solitaire
One rank up or down across 3 peaks, with Kings and Aces joined. - How to play Golf Solitaire
Seven columns, no wrap and Kings that stop the pile. - How to play Black Hole Solitaire
Every card in view and a single pile in the middle to feed. - How to play Addiction Solitaire
Four rows of 13, gaps that move and a few reshuffles. - How to play Yukon Solitaire
Klondike's layout with no stock, where any face-up card can move. - How to play Scorpion Solitaire
Same-suit runs, loose group moves and a small reserve. - How to play Forty Thieves Solitaire
Two decks, 8 foundations and a single pass through the stock. - How to play Double Klondike Solitaire
Klondike with 2 decks, 9 columns and one redeal. - How to play Canfield Solitaire
A 13-card reserve, 4 columns and foundations that start on a different rank each deal. - Baker's Dozen and the 13-column games
No cells and no stock, plus Spanish Patience, Castles in Spain and Portuguese Solitaire.
Daily play
- Daily Solitaire Challenge
The daily deals and how the challenge works.
Strategy
- How to win at Solitaire
Which card to free first, when to hold back and how to use an empty column. - How to win 3 Card Solitaire: Turn 3 stock strategy
Reading the stock in threes and changing what the next pass shows. - How to win Spider Solitaire in 1, 2 and 4 suits
Turning cards over, keeping columns empty and timing the stock deals. - How to win FreeCell: space, supermoves and difficult deals
Counting free space and planning the hard deals. - How to win Pyramid Solitaire: pair choices and stock planning
Choosing between matching cards and spending the stock well.
Odds and winnability
- Is solitaire winnable?
How many deals can be won and how we check every Winnable deal.
Play with bigger cards
If the cards are too small to read comfortably, the large card version uses the same game with much bigger, higher contrast cards.