Spiderette Solitaire

Spiderette is Spider solitaire shrunk down to one deck. Seven columns grow from a small triangle of cards, you build downward in any suit, and you try to assemble four complete runs from king to ace. A game takes about as long as a Klondike hand, but the planning feels like Spider: the fewer suits you have to untangle, the more you can think ahead.

Rules step by step

1. The deal. Seven columns are dealt left to right: one card in the first, two in the second, up to seven in the last. Only the last card of each column is face up. The 24 cards that remain form the stock.
2. Build down in any suit. A card can go on a card one rank higher, whatever the suit. A red six can sit on a black seven or a red seven.
3. Move runs, not mixtures. You can lift a single card, or several cards, but only when they form a descending run of one suit. A six of hearts on a seven of spades is a legal pair to build, but you cannot move the two together.
4. Uncover hidden cards. When you take the last face-up card off a column, the card under it turns over by itself.
5. Empty columns take anything. Any card, or any one-suit run, can go into an empty column.
6. Deal from the stock. Tap the stock to put one card face up on each column. The first three deals use seven cards each. The fourth and last deal has three cards and goes on columns 1 to 3. You cannot deal while a column is empty, so fill it first.
7. Complete a run. A run of one suit from king down to ace is removed from the table as soon as it is complete, whether you finish it by a move or by a deal.
8. Win by removing all four runs.

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

Strategy

• Work toward single-suit runs. Any suit may be built on, but only same-suit runs move as a unit. When you have a choice, place a card on the same suit.
• Open the tall columns. The columns on the right hide the most cards. Turning those over early gives you information and fresh moves.
• Keep an empty column. One empty column lets you split a run, sort a tangle or park a king. Two let you rearrange nearly anything. Remember that an empty column also blocks the stock deal.
• Deal late, not never. Dealing drops a card on every column and buries what you were working on. Make every useful move first, then deal.
• Look before you cover. Before placing a card on another, check what that card was covering when it moves. A move that hides a card you need is rarely worth it.
• Undo is free. Try a line, see what it turns over, and go back if it does not pay off.

Frequently asked questions

Can every Spiderette deal be won?

Almost every one. Published solver research puts the share of winnable Spiderette deals at roughly 99.6 percent. The deals on this page come from a pool that our own solver has won, so each has at least one winning line. The pool leans toward easier deals than a random shuffle, since only deals the solver could finish are kept. In our tests the solver finished most random deals within seconds, and the rest were simply left out.

How is Spiderette different from Spider?

Spider uses two decks, ten columns and five deals of ten cards. Spiderette has one deck, seven columns and four deals of seven, seven, seven and three. The building rules are the same.

Why can I not deal the stock?

At least one column is empty. Put a card on it first, then the stock works again.

Do I need an account?

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

Can I share a deal?

Yes. Each deal has its own web address, and a friend who opens it sees the same cards.

Related games

• Scorpion is another one-deck puzzle with seven columns, but with far fewer winnable deals.
• Spider is the two-deck version of the same rules.
• Klondike is the classic starting point.
• FreeCell shows every card from the start.

Last updated 2026-10-30