Klondike Solitaire

Choose draw 1 for a relaxed game or draw 3 for a tougher one (your choice applies when you press New game), ask for a winnable deal when you want a guaranteed solution, and turn on Large mode for bigger cards and text.

How to play Klondike solitaire

Every deal starts the same way. Look at the layout first, then follow these rules.

1. The tableau is the seven columns in the lower half of the board. The first column has one card, the second has two, and so on up to seven. Only the top card of each column starts face up.
2. The stock is the face-down pile at the top left. The four foundations at the top right start empty.
3. Your goal is to build each foundation upward in a single suit, from ace to king.
4. On the tableau you build downward in alternating colours. A red 6 goes on a black 7, and a black 6 goes on a red 7.
5. You can move one card or a whole face-up run together. When you move the last face-up card off a column, the card beneath it turns over.
6. Only a king, or a run that starts with a king, can be moved into an empty column.
7. Click the stock to turn cards over onto the waste pile. The top waste card can be played to the tableau or a foundation. When the stock is empty, click it again to turn the waste back over for another pass.
8. You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations.

Controls: mouse, touch and keyboard

Click or tap a card to select it, then click or tap where it should go. Selected cards are outlined in blue. Double-click or double-tap a card to send it to a foundation or the best available column automatically. If you prefer the keyboard, press Tab to reach the board, use the arrow keys to move between piles, press Enter to pick up and put down, D to draw, U to undo and H for a hint.

The Hint button highlights a good move, Undo takes back your moves one at a time, and Auto-move to foundation quietly plays cards that can never be needed elsewhere. When the stock is empty and every card is face up, an Auto-complete button finishes the game for you.

Draw 1 or draw 3?

In draw 1 you turn over a single card at a time, so every card in the stock eventually becomes available. It is forgiving, and careful play wins most deals. In draw 3 you turn over three cards but may only play the top one, so the cards beneath stay buried until you clear the ones above. Order matters far more, wins are rarer, and planning pays off.

Beginners should start with draw 1. When you win regularly, step up to draw 3. Your personal best is tracked separately for each mode.

Klondike strategy tips

• Uncover face-down cards first. Prefer moves that flip a hidden card over moves that merely rearrange cards you can already see.
• Work on the tallest columns. Digging into the column with the most hidden cards usually opens the most options.
• Let the auto-move setting handle aces and twos. Hold higher cards back on the tableau if they could help you build a column.
• Empty a column only when a king is ready to fill it. An empty space with no king to place there does little.
• When two cards of the same rank can both be played, choose the one that leaves the better follow-up, and think about which colour you will need later.
• Before you draw, look for every available move. Cycling through the stock again and again without progress is a warning sign.
• Use undo to explore. Try a plan, see what it reveals, and take it back if it leads nowhere.
• In draw 3, pay attention to which cards you can reach on each pass. Playing a card from the waste changes which cards come up next time round, so choose carefully.

Variations and related games

Klondike has many house rules. Some versions allow unlimited passes through the stock, while others allow only one or three. Vegas-style scoring charges a stake per game and pays out for each card that reaches a foundation. Other solitaire games use the same cards in different ways. Spider uses two decks and builds runs in a single suit, FreeCell deals every card face up and gives you four free cells, and Pyramid and TriPeaks ask you to clear cards by pairing or sequencing them.

A short history of Klondike

Solitaire card games, called patience in Britain, appeared in northern Europe in the late eighteenth century, and early rule books describe dozens of single-player layouts. The game now known as Klondike is often said to be named after the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s, although its exact origins are unclear. It became the best-known solitaire in the world once it started appearing on home computers, and it has been a favourite coffee-break pastime ever since.

Common questions