Frequently Asked Questions

Solitaire is a family of single-player card games, also known as "patience" in many countries. The goal is usually to sort a shuffled deck into ordered sequences, most often by building four foundation piles from Ace to King by suit. There are hundreds of documented variants, but Klondike, Spider, and FreeCell are by far the most widely played. Each variant has its own layout and rules, yet they all share the core appeal of imposing order on a randomly shuffled deck through a mix of planning and patience.

Klondike is by far the most popular solitaire game, so much so that when most people say "solitaire," they mean Klondike. It became globally famous through its inclusion in Microsoft Windows starting in 1990, where it shipped to teach mouse skills and went on to be played by hundreds of millions of people. Its blend of simple rules, quick games, and a satisfying balance of luck and skill keeps it the default choice for casual players everywhere.

Deal 28 cards into seven tableau columns, with only the bottom card of each face-up, and keep the remaining 24 as a stock. Build the tableau downward in alternating colors, move Aces to the foundations as they appear, and build each foundation up by suit from Ace to King. Draw from the stock when you run out of moves, fill empty columns with Kings, and win by moving all 52 cards to the foundations.

No, not every deal is winnable in most variants. In Klondike, roughly 79% of deals are theoretically solvable with perfect play, though humans win fewer because of hidden cards. FreeCell comes closest to always winnable at about 99.99%. Spider ranges from around 99% for 1-suit down to about a third for 4-suit. Because unwinnable deals are normal, losing some games is simply part of solitaire, not a sign you are playing badly.

Klondike Turn 1 is the most beginner-friendly thanks to its familiar rules and forgiving single-card draw. FreeCell is also excellent for newcomers because every card is visible from the start and nearly every deal is solvable, letting you focus purely on strategy without luck. Spider 1-Suit is another gentle option, with around a 99% win rate, making it ideal for learning sequence-building before you tackle harder suit counts.

Among common games, Vegas Klondike Turn 3 is the toughest, winning only about 2 to 5 percent of the time because of its single stock pass and draw-three rule. Spider 4-Suit (around 25 to 35 percent) and Forty Thieves (about 10 percent) are also very hard, as is Russian Solitaire, which combines Yukon's layout with restrictive same-suit building. These games reward deep planning and the discipline to recognize unwinnable deals.

In Turn 1 you draw one card at a time from the stock, so every card is reachable on each pass and the game is fairly forgiving. In Turn 3 you draw three cards at once and can only play the top one, which means large parts of the stock can be temporarily out of reach. Turn 3 requires tracking the order of cards and timing your draws, making it significantly more strategic and difficult than Turn 1.

FreeCell deals all 52 cards face-up with no hidden cards and no stock pile, and it gives you four free cells for temporary single-card storage. Klondike hides most of its cards and relies on drawing from a stock. The result is that FreeCell is a game of nearly pure skill — about 99.99% of deals are solvable and there is no luck — while Klondike mixes skill with the chance of the deal. Many players enjoy FreeCell precisely because every loss is a fixable mistake.

Spider Solitaire uses two decks (104 cards) dealt across ten columns. You build descending runs in the tableau, and when you complete a same-suit sequence from King down to Ace, it lifts off to a foundation; clearing all eight foundations wins. Spider comes in 1-suit (easy), 2-suit (medium), 3-suit, and 4-suit (hard) varieties, with difficulty rising sharply as more suits are added. Its scalable challenge makes it a favorite for players who want a game that grows with their skill.

FreeCell is an open-information game where all 52 cards are visible and four "free cells" provide temporary storage, each holding one card. You build the tableau down in alternating colors and the foundations up by suit. The free cells let you move blocking cards out of the way, but the number of cards you can move at once depends on how many cells and empty columns are open, so keeping them free is central to good play.

Yukon is a Klondike variant where all cards are dealt at the start with no stock pile, and its signature rule is that any face-up card can be moved along with every card on top of it, regardless of whether they form a sequence. This freedom makes Yukon more tactical and flexible than Klondike, rewarding players who plan ahead and use disordered moves to dig out buried cards. About 25 to 35 percent of deals are winnable.

Pyramid Solitaire is a matching game where 28 cards are dealt into a seven-row pyramid and you remove pairs of exposed cards whose ranks sum to thirteen — for example a 9 with a 4, or a Queen with an Ace. Kings count as thirteen and are removed alone. The goal is to clear the entire pyramid, which takes planning because removing a card unlocks the two beneath it. It is part arithmetic puzzle, part tactical card game.

TriPeaks is a fast chaining game played across three overlapping peaks of cards. You clear the peaks by playing exposed cards that are one rank higher or lower than the top of the waste pile, and Aces and Kings wrap around. Building long chains without drawing from the stock is the key to high scores. With about 90% of deals solvable, TriPeaks is one of the most winnable and beginner-friendly solitaire games.

A few universal habits help in almost every game: pause to read the whole board before each move, prioritize uncovering hidden cards, avoid rushing cards to the foundations, treat empty columns as valuable, and plan several moves ahead. Use the undo button to learn from losses by finding the branch you missed. Practicing these principles a little each day steadily raises your win rate across Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, and beyond.

It depends on the variant. FreeCell is almost pure skill because every card is visible and nearly every deal is solvable. Klondike and Spider mix skill with luck, since hidden cards add uncertainty. Pure luck games like Clock Solitaire involve no decisions at all. In every game with choices, though, skillful play meaningfully improves your results within the limits the deal allows.

Not always. Aces and Twos should almost always go up immediately, but higher cards often serve better in the tableau, where they support sequences and receive other cards. Sending a mid-rank card up too early can strand the cards that needed it. The guideline is to keep the foundations roughly even and to promote a card only when it genuinely helps clear the board or unlock a hidden card.

In games with face-down cards, like Klondike, Spider, and Yukon, uncovering means moving the cards on top so a hidden card flips face-up. It matters enormously because hidden cards are the information you most lack — each one you reveal adds options and brings you closer to a win. Prioritizing moves that uncover cards is one of the most reliable ways to improve in any game that has them.

Yes, you can undo moves in our games, and no, it is not cheating — undo is a standard feature of online solitaire and a valuable learning tool. Use it to experiment with different lines and to study your losses by backing up and finding a better move. In skill-based games like FreeCell, undo simply helps you find the solution that was always there, which is the whole point of the puzzle.

Every game is completely free, with no sign-up and no account required. There is nothing to download or install — all games run directly in your web browser. Just open the page and start playing. There are no fees, no paywalls, and no registration; you can enjoy any of the games instantly on any device.

Yes. Our games are fully responsive and work on all devices — phones, tablets, and desktop computers — directly in the browser with no app to install. On touchscreens, tapping a card to move it is fast and natural, and quick games like TriPeaks or Klondike fit perfectly into a few spare minutes on the go.

No. All games run directly in your web browser, so there is nothing to download, install, or update. This keeps things simple and instant: visit the page, pick a game, and play. It also means the games work the same across your phone, tablet, and computer without any setup.

Playing solitaire can be a helpful part of a mentally active lifestyle. It exercises planning, working memory, and pattern recognition, and its calm, focused nature can reduce stress and induce a pleasant state of flow. It will not by itself prevent cognitive decline, but combined with other stimulating activities, exercise, and good sleep, it contributes to keeping the mind engaged — and it is far more constructive than mindless scrolling.

Solitaire dates back to the late 1700s in Northern Europe, where it may have evolved from fortune-telling card layouts. It became widely popular in the Victorian era through published rule books, and many famous variants — Klondike, Spider, Canfield — were documented in the nineteenth century. The game achieved global fame when Microsoft bundled it with Windows 3.0 in 1990, and it remains one of the most-played games in the world today.

In most European languages, solitaire card games are called "patience" — la patience in French, die Patience in German — reflecting the calm, methodical, unhurried nature of play. The name "solitaire," meaning solitary or alone, is the term that took hold in North America. Both words refer to the same family of single-player card games; the difference is purely geographic, a small linguistic souvenir of how the pastime spread.

Klondike takes its name from the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s in Canada's Yukon territory, where prospectors reportedly played the game to pass the long northern nights. Several related games share this frontier heritage, including Yukon, Alaska, and Moosehide. The gold-rush association is part of solitaire lore and gives the family its rugged, far-north flavor.

Beyond the big three of Klondike, Spider, and FreeCell, popular choices include Yukon (no stock, move any card), Pyramid (pair cards to thirteen), TriPeaks and Golf (fast chaining games), Forty Thieves (a hard two-deck challenge), and Canfield (a casino-style game with a reserve). Trying a range is a great way to discover which style of play you enjoy most, since each offers a distinct experience.

In the majority of solitaire games, the goal is to build four foundation piles, one per suit, each running from Ace up to King. You achieve this by reorganizing cards in the tableau, drawing from a stock where one exists, and gradually moving every card to its foundation. Some games differ — Spider builds King-to-Ace runs within the tableau, and Pyramid clears cards by matching — but building ordered foundations is the classic objective.

Often it is simply the game's natural win rate — many variants are unwinnable a meaningful share of the time no matter how well you play. Beyond that, the most common fixable causes are drawing from the stock too early, not uncovering hidden cards, rushing cards to the foundations, and wasting empty columns. Slowing down to read the board and planning a few moves ahead will noticeably improve your results.

Klondike Turn 1 is the classic starting point because its rules are familiar and its single-card draw is forgiving. FreeCell is also excellent, since every card is visible and almost every deal is winnable, so you can focus on learning strategy. Spider 1-Suit is a gentle way to learn sequence-building. Any of these lets a newcomer build confidence before moving on to harder variants.

We currently offer 38 solitaire games across eight families: Klondike (8 variants), Spider (5), FreeCell (6), Yukon (4), Forty Thieves (5), Canfield (3), Pairing games like Pyramid and TriPeaks (4), and Special games like Clock and Calculation (3). Each provides a distinct challenge, from gentle beginner-friendly games to expert-level tests, so there is always something to match your mood and skill.

No, not in a fair, randomly shuffled game. Your losses are explained entirely by the natural win rates of each variant plus the inevitable human mistakes. A genuinely random Klondike deal is unwinnable about a fifth of the time regardless of who deals it, so a streak of tough deals is simply variance, not manipulation. The math of each game, not a rigged shuffle, is what makes the hard ones hard.