Solitaire
cardHow to play Solitaire
My goal is to build the four foundation piles up from Ace to King, one pile per suit. I tap the stock pile in the top left to flip cards into the waste pile.
To move a card I tap it to select it, then tap where I want it to go. In the tableau I stack cards in descending order alternating red and black. I can only place a King on an empty column. When a face down card is uncovered it flips automatically. I tap a foundation slot to send an Ace up, then build that suit in order. New Deal shuffles a fresh game whenever I want a restart.
About Solitaire (Klondike)
Klondike is the world's default card game. The patience family goes back to 18th-century Europe, but this variant took its name from the 1890s Klondike gold rush, and its true conquest came in 1990 when Microsoft shipped it with Windows 3.0, officially to teach mouse drag-and-drop. It has been the planet's most-played card game more or less ever since.
Seven tableau piles, four foundations, and a stock: build down in alternating colors, send aces up, and try to surface every face-down card. Klondike mixes luck and judgment, roughly 80% of deals are theoretically winnable, but average players win far fewer, and closing that gap is entirely about which of several legal moves you choose.
Klondike judgment calls
- Always prefer the move that flips a face-down card, hidden cards are the game's real currency.
- Dig the biggest face-down piles first; a move that unlocks column six beats an equal move on column two.
- Do not empty a column without a king ready to take the space, an empty slot with no king is wasted tempo.
- Delay foundation plays you might need in the tableau, a 2 can go up any time, but a black 5 might host a red 4 later.
- Draw through the whole stock once before committing to a plan; knowing what is buried changes which moves are right.
FAQ
Is every game of Klondike winnable?
No. Even with perfect information about the deal, a bit over 80% of games are winnable, and with realistic play (you cannot see face-down cards) skilled players win roughly 35-45% of draw-one games. Losses are baked in, which makes the judgment calls matter more, not less.
Should I always move an ace to the foundation immediately?
Aces and 2s, yes, they have almost no value in the tableau. From 3 upward it becomes situational: a card sent up early is a card that can no longer host tableau builds, and many stuck games trace back to a greedy early foundation push.
What is the difference between draw-one and draw-three?
Draw-one deals the stock one card at a time and is substantially easier; draw-three deals in threes, so you only access every third card per pass and sequencing the stock becomes a puzzle of its own. Purists play draw-three; both are legitimate.
When is a game truly lost?
When no legal move flips a new card, changes the stock's cycle or progresses a foundation, everything just shuffles in place. Recognizing that dead state quickly (rather than cycling the stock forever) is itself a skill; redeal and spend the time on a live game.
