How to Play Spider Solitaire
Spider uses 104 cards arranged in 10 columns. Build descending runs in the tableau, then complete a King-to-Ace run in the same suit to remove it. Spider 1 Suit teaches the movement rules. With 2 or 4 suits you also have to separate mixed-suit piles before they can travel together.
This guide covers the classic 2-deck game. Spiderette uses the same basic build and group-movement rules on a single deck and 7 columns, with a shorter stock that ends in a 3-card deal. Its complete setup is covered separately in the Spiderette rules and strategy guide.
Building 8 runs from King to Ace
You are building 8 sequences, and each one is a full run from King down to Ace in a single suit. The moment you finish a run, the game lifts those 13 cards off the table for you. Clear all 8 and you have won, because 8 runs of 13 is the whole 104-card pack. There is no separate foundation to build up to, the way there is in most solitaire. The sorting happens in the columns themselves.
Ten columns and a 50-card stock
Spider spreads 2 decks across 10 columns. The first 4 columns get 6 cards each and the other 6 get 5, so 54 cards are on the table at the start. Only the last card in each column starts face up, and the rest sit face down under it. The remaining 50 cards stay in the stock at the side, ready to be dealt later. The 8 spaces across the top are not piles you build on. They are simply where a finished King to Ace run goes once you complete it.
Joining cards and moving runs
An 8 of hearts can go on a 9 of spades. Any exposed card may be placed on a card exactly one rank higher, whatever its suit, but a mixed join like that does not make a run you can move as a unit.
To move a group, its cards must descend without a gap in the same suit. A 9, 8 and 7 of spades can travel together. Replace the 8 with a heart and the group must be separated before the 9 can move. Spider 1 Suit never has these mixed joins, because every card is a spade.
Clear a column down to a face down card and it turns over by itself, joining the cards you can play. Empty columns are generous in Spider: any card or any suited run can drop into one, with none of the King only restriction that Klondike places on its empty columns.
Completing a suit and clearing it
When a full same suit run comes together, King at the top down to Ace at the bottom, the game removes all 13 cards on its own and sends them to one of the slots above. You do not click anything. It happens the instant the run is complete and face up. This is the only way cards ever leave the table, so a win means building 8 of these runs one at a time.
Dealing from the stock
The stock deals one face-up card onto each of the 10 columns. There are 50 stock cards, enough for 5 rows. Finish any useful rearrangement before dealing, because the new cards cover the current ends of your runs.
One rule trips people up here. You cannot deal a new row while any column is empty. The game makes you fill every gap first. It is easy to forget, and it is also a good reason not to rush a column empty right before you were planning to deal, since you may find you have blocked your own stock.
How Spider is scored
Every game starts at 500 points. Each move costs 1 point, and so does each deal from the stock. Each completed run adds 100. This is the same scoring Microsoft's classic Spider used. The 8 runs of a win add 800, so a finished game scores 1,300 minus every move and deal you made along the way.
Choosing 1, 2 or 4 suits
Spider comes in 3 strengths, and the only thing that changes between them is how many suits the 104 cards use.
Spider 1 Suit uses only spades. Every descending sequence is already suited, so you can concentrate on exposing cards and making room for longer runs.
Spider 2 Suits adds hearts. You can still place a card on either suit, but a mixed join must be separated before the whole run can move. Empty columns become useful for that sorting.
Spider 4 Suits uses hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. The destination rule stays the same, but there are more suit combinations to separate. Try it when you are comfortable using empty columns to rebuild suited runs.
Your first few games
Once the movement rules make sense, concentrate on uncovering face-down cards. A move that turns a card over tells you something new and gives you another card to work with. Building a tidy stack that reveals nothing can wait.
Keep cards of the same suit together when the board gives you a reasonable choice. Mixed-suit stacks are legal, but only a same-suit run can move as one unit and leave the table. An empty column is useful working room, so avoid filling it with a card that cannot move again.
These habits are enough for a first game. The separate Spider Solitaire strategy guide follows real board decisions in greater depth, including stock timing, empty-column work and different plans for 1, 2 and 4 suits.
Common questions
How many decks does Spider Solitaire use?
Spider uses 2 decks, 104 cards in total. The opening places 54 cards in 10 columns and leaves 50 in the stock.
Is Spider Solitaire hard?
The rules are easiest to learn with 1 suit. With more suits, fewer of your runs can move as one piece, so 2 and 4 suit games mean more sorting and more careful use of empty columns. Some deals are much harder than others in every version.
Can you always win Spider Solitaire?
No. Some shuffles cannot be won at all. A computer study that could see every card put Spider 4 Suits at about 98.5% winnable (Blake and Gent, Solvitaire), but you play without seeing the face-down cards, so you will lose some of those. Every Winnable deal on the site has a known solution. How we check that a deal can be won.
Should I start with 1, 2 or 4 suits?
Start with 1 suit to learn the layout and stock rules. Try 2 suits when you want to practice separating mixed runs, then 4 suits when you want more of that planning.