Guide
How to Play Spider Solitaire
Spider Solitaire is a game of sequencing and patience. Deal ten columns from two decks, stack cards down regardless of suit, drag same-suit runs as a group, and clear all eight King-to-Ace runs to win.
Play Spider SolitaireThe objective
Clear the board by completing eight runs
Spider Solitaire is played with two standard 52-card decks — 104 cards. Ten tableau columns hold the deal, and the rest of the deck sits in the stock. You win when eight complete King-to-Ace runs, each in a single suit, have been assembled and cleared.
Between the deal and the win, the work is resequencing the tableau so cards line up by suit, not just by rank, while dealing fresh rows from the stock when you genuinely run out of moves. There is no timer forcing your hand; the challenge is the order you do things in.
The game is free, runs in the browser, and needs no account. Open the board when you want to play; use this guide for the rules, the three difficulties, and the habits that win more games.
The deal
Ten columns, one stock, no foundations to fill by hand
The first four tableau columns get six cards each, the other six get five — 54 cards in all. Only the front card of each column is face up. The remaining 50 cards form the stock, dealt ten at a time — one card per column — for five more rounds after the opening layout.
There are no foundation piles to drag cards onto by hand. A completed King-to-Ace run in a single suit clears itself from the tableau the instant it comes together. Every deal here is a fresh shuffle; some are comfortably winnable and some are not, especially at higher suit counts.
Controls
Drag, tap, or use the keyboard
Every method moves the same cards. Pick whichever fits the device in your hand.
Everywhere
Drag or tap-to-move
Drag a card or a same-suit run onto its destination column, or tap once to pick it up and tap the target column to drop it. The board highlights every column that will legally accept the run you have grabbed.
Fast placement
Double-click / double-tap
Double-click any movable card or run to send it to the best open column automatically — it prefers a spot that keeps the run in the same suit, and falls back to any legal column.
Desktop
Keyboard
Space deals a new row from the stock. U undoes, H asks for a hint, N deals a new game, and M mutes the sound. Every on-screen button also has a visible focus ring for keyboard navigation.
The loop
Four moves you repeat all game
Reading the board, then choosing between these four is the whole game.
- 1
Read the deal
Ten tableau columns hold 54 cards — six in each of the first four columns, five in the rest — with only the front card of each column face up. The other 50 cards sit in the stock, ready to deal ten at a time, one per column, for five more rounds.
- 2
Stack down, any suit
On the tableau, any face-up card can take a card one rank lower regardless of suit or colour — a black 9 can sit on a red 10 or a black 10. An empty column takes any card or run at all, with no King required.
- 3
Move same-suit runs together
A single card always moves freely, but to drag several cards at once they must already form an unbroken, same-suit, descending run — a 9-8-7 of spades, never a mixed-suit stack. Build in one suit whenever you can to keep your options open.
- 4
Complete eight runs to win
When a King-to-Ace run in a single suit lines up at the front of a column, it clears itself from the board automatically. Assemble all eight runs — two full decks, four suits each in the hardest mode — to win the game.
Rules & scoring
Every rule that decides a move
The objective
Clear the board by assembling eight complete King-to-Ace runs, each in a single suit. The game is won the moment the eighth run clears.
Tableau building
Any face-up card can be placed on a card one rank higher, regardless of suit — a red 6 can land on a black 7 or a red 7 alike. Only a face-up run that is already the same suit and strictly descending can move as a group; a single card can always move on its own. An empty column accepts any card or run, King or otherwise.
The stock
The stock deals a new row of ten cards, one face up onto each tableau column, whenever you choose. A deal is blocked while any column is empty — clear every column down to at least one card before dealing again. Five deals remain after the opening layout.
Completed runs
The instant a King-to-Ace sequence in one suit sits together at the front of a column, it is removed from play automatically — there is no foundation pile to drag it to by hand.
Scoring
Score starts at 500. Every move — placing a run or dealing a row from the stock — costs 1 point, and completing a run pays back 100. The score never drops below zero, so an inexpensive experiment never actually costs you anything.
Winning and getting stuck
Not every deal can be finished, especially at 4 suits. When no productive move remains and the stock is empty or blocked, deal a new game. Undo is unlimited, so a dead end is only final once you choose to move on.
Difficulty
1 suit, 2 suits, or 4 suits
The only setting in Spider is how many distinct suits the 104-card double deck uses. Pick it on the deal screen; stats are kept separately for each.
- 01 · Spades only — learn the game
1 Suit
Every card in both decks is a spade, so any card that fits by rank also fits by suit. Runs are easy to keep intact and most games are winnable, which makes 1 suit the fastest way to learn the flow of Spider before adding real suit conflicts.
- 02 · Spades and hearts — the middle ground
2 Suits
Two suits mean a card that fits by rank might break your run by suit, so you have to start planning which column to build in which suit. It is noticeably harder than 1 suit and a fair test once the basics feel automatic.
- 03 · All four suits — the classic challenge
4 Suits
The traditional, hardest version of Spider. With four suits in play, keeping a column in one suit takes real foresight, and a careless move can bury a card you need for hundreds of moves. Wins are earned here.
Common mistakes
Why winnable games get lost
Dealing too early
A tempting new row of ten face-up cards can bury moves you were about to make. Deal only once the visible tableau truly has nothing left to offer.
Ignoring suit while stacking
Placing a card purely by rank, ignoring suit, builds a stack that looks tidy but cannot move as a unit later. Prefer the same-suit placement whenever the ranks allow it.
Never emptying a column
Treating every column as sacred wastes the game's best tool. An empty column can absorb a whole run and let you resequence a stuck pile — chase one deliberately instead of avoiding it.
Dealing with an empty column
The stock will not deal while any column is empty — a common early trap. Fill or intentionally protect an empty column before reaching for a new row.
- Uncovering face-down cards beats almost everything else — a move that flips a hidden card is usually the right move, even over one that tidies a run.
- Try to keep each column building in a single suit. A run you can move together is worth far more than a same-rank stack you cannot.
- Empty a column as early as you reasonably can. A free column is the single most powerful tool in Spider — use it to resequence a stuck stack, not just to park one card.
- Deal from the stock only when the tableau is genuinely out of moves. Every new row adds ten more face-up cards you have to manage, and you cannot deal again once a column is empty.
- Expose the longest, most buried columns first. A column with four hidden cards under it is worth more attention early than one with none.
- When two placements are otherwise equal, pick the one that keeps same-suit cards together, even if it costs an extra move — it pays off later when a run needs to travel as a unit.
- Use undo freely to test a resequencing. If a move does not open a hidden card or tidy a suit run, take it back and look for one that does.
Where you can play
Same game on phone and desktop
spidersolitaireonline.app runs in any modern browser with no app to install. Progress stays on the device you played on.
Desktop browsers
Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari all run the game with no plugin. Drag cards with the mouse, double-click to auto-place a run, or use the keyboard shortcuts for dealing, undo, and hints.
Phones and tablets
The layout is touch-first and scales all ten columns to fit the screen. Tap a card to pick it up and tap a column to drop it, or drag directly. Restart is instant, with no page reload.
Progress on this device
Best score, best time, best move count, games played, and win streak for 1, 2, and 4 suits live in local browser storage. They stay until you reset them or clear site data, and they do not sync between devices.
Still stuck on a rule? Read the Spider Solitaire FAQ or jump in and play.
Play Spider Solitaire free