Klondike Solitaire

Klondike is the solitaire most people picture when they hear the word. You sort a shuffled deck into four piles, one per suit, from ace up to king. This page draws one card at a time, the gentler of the two common draw rules.

Rules step by step

1. The deal. Seven columns are dealt left to right: one card in column 1, two in column 2, up to seven in column 7. Only the last card of each column is face up. The other 24 cards form the stock.
2. Build down in alternating colors. A red card goes on a black card one rank higher, and a black card on a red one. A 6 of hearts fits on a 7 of spades, not on a 7 of diamonds.
3. Move runs. Any face-up run in correct order can move as one unit onto a card that fits its top end.
4. Uncover cards. When you move the last face-up card off a column, the card beneath it turns face up by itself.
5. Empty columns take kings. Only a king, with any run on top of it, can go into an empty column.
6. Draw from the stock. Click the stock to turn one card onto the waste pile, where its top card can be played. When the stock runs out, the waste turns back over into a new stock in the same order, as often as you like.
7. Build the foundations. Each suit starts with its ace and grows one rank at a time. A foundation card may come back down onto a column if that helps.
8. Win when all four foundations hold thirteen cards.

The page shows time and moves; there is no score in this version.

Strategy

• Dig where the hidden cards are. A move that turns over a face-down card beats one that only rearranges face-up cards. Work on the tallest hidden stacks first.
• Keep a king ready before you empty a column. An empty column with no king to fill it is dead space.
• Keep the colors balanced. If you bury every red eight, the black sevens run out of homes. Look at what each play blocks.
• Send aces and twos up at once. A higher card is safe to send up once both foundations of the opposite color have reached the rank just below it. Before that, it may be needed as a landing spot.
• Treat the hint as a suggestion. It shows a legal move, not a good one, and can lead into a dead end.

Decision rules are in the Klondike strategy guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is every deal winnable?

The default deals come from a pool that an offline solver has checked. The solver sees every card, even face-down ones, and found at least one winning line. That does not make the win easy, since you cannot see what it saw. Draw three has its own page, Klondike Turn 3, with deals checked the same way. Pool deals lean toward easier wins than a random shuffle, because only deals the solver could finish are kept.

Can I undo a move?

Yes, as often as you like, and redo too. Using the hint marks the game as played with help in your own stats.

Do I need an account?

No. Settings, stats and the game in progress stay in your browser. The privacy page lists the entries.

How do I share a deal?

Every deal has its own web address. Copy it and a friend gets the same cards.

Last updated 2026-10-30