How to Play Klondike Solitaire: Rules, Setup & Variants

Setup

1. Shuffle standard 52-card deck
2. Deal 7 Tableau Piles: Pile 1 (1 card), Pile 2 (2 cards)... Pile 7 (7 cards). Top card Face Up. Rest Face Down
3. Stock Pile: Remaining 24 cards Face Down
4. Waste Pile: Empty (Next to Stock)
5. Foundation Piles (4): Empty spaces for A→K by Suit (♥♦♣♠)

Goal

Move all 52 cards to Foundations: Ace → 2 → 3 ... → King, Same Suit.

Legal Moves

• Tableau → Foundation: Top card of pile / Waste. Must be next rank, same suit
• Tableau → Tableau: Descending Rank (K → Q → J...), Alternating Color (Red on Black, Black on Red). Move single cards or valid sequences
• King to Empty Column: Only a King (or King-sequence) fills empty Tableau spot
• Stock → Waste: Draw 1 (or 3) card(s). Top of Waste playable
• Flip: When Tableau pile emptied, flip next Face Down card Face Up

Winning

All 4 Foundations complete (King on top). ~80% win rate with perfect play (Draw 1). Draw 3 ~40%.

Variants

• Draw 3 (Vegas): Draw 3 cards, only top playable. Score based on cards to Foundation ($5/card)
• Spider Solitaire: 2 Decks, 10 Columns, Build K→A Same Suit (Remove complete runs)
• FreeCell: All cards Face Up, 4 Free Cells, 99.9% solvable

Play Free

• Windows: Microsoft Solitaire Collection (Pre-installed / Store)
• Web: Solitaired.com, World of Solitaire, Green Felt
• Mobile: MobilityWare Solitaire (iOS/Android)