How To Set Up Solitaire Card Game

Free Online 1, 2 or 4 Suit Spider Solitaire Video Game

Play Spider Solitaire Online for Free

Starting Your Game

After the game has loaded click on the green and white button in the bottom center of the game's welcome screen to start playing. This will bring up the game mode select, where you can choose:

Easy: 1 suit
Medium: 2 suits
Hard: 4 suits

Game Features

After you choose your suit count our Spider Solitaire game automatically deals your cards to the Tableau. If you do not like a deal, or you are stuck on a game, you can click the new deal button near the top center of the screen. This game allows you to shuffle through the reserve pile an unlimited number of times.

Your current score and number of moves is shown at the top left of the screen. This game has a control menu on the top right. Replay hand, help, turn sound on or off and re-start game.

Game Design

The playing field is organized with ten columns on the Tableau. Fifty four cards are dealt, with 4 columns having 6 cards each and 6 columns having 5 cards each.

The remaining 50 cards are in the Reserve, which is dealt atop the columns in the Tableau across 5 deals.

Game Scoring

You start with 500 points.
Every move is -1 points.
You get 100 points for each Royal Flush

Suits

Playing in four suits mode is significantly harder than playing in one suit mode. Practice in one suit mode and work your way up. Four suit Spider Solitaire is arguably the hardest Solitaire version for a player to master.

A Beginner's Guide to Playing Spider Solitaire

If you've played traditional Classic Solitaire, and looking for more of a challenge, you might want to take a look at some of the variations. One difficult and challenging variation, Spider Solitaire, is a very popular two-deck version of the game.

In this article, we'll look at:

The history of Spider Solitaire
How to play advice for beginners
Advanced gameplay strategies
Alternate versions of the game

The History Of Spider Solitaire

Solitaire, in its original form, emerged in the 1700s in northern Europe.

The game didn't make its way across the Atlantic to the USA until 1870 where it became known as "Klondike Solitaire", then just "Solitaire".

Spider Solitaire originated in 1949. It's popularity exploded when it came preinstalled with Microsoft XP in 2001.

How To Play Spider Solitaire

Assemble thirteen cards of a suit, in descending sequence from King to Ace.

Once a full suit of thirteen cards is assembled, it is discarded.

The goal of the game is to stack cards into sequences. These sequences are based on suits and rank. For example, the cards will be stacked K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A with no mixed suits.

You move cards around the gamespace following a set of rules. It's possible to follow all the rules and still get blocked if you lack strategy and some luck. Blocking yourself in means you lose the game.

How Do You Deal?

Ten piles of five cards each are dealt, then an additional four on the first four columns. All top cards are then turned face up.

How Do You Move Cards?

The top card in a pile can be moved. It can be moved onto another card if it is in sequence. You can also move a sequence of cards all at once - provided they are suited.

If moving a sequence of cards, they may be placed either in a space or on a card of the next-higher rank to the bottom card of the unit. You must maintain suits. A King can only be moved onto a space.

In the online game, if you try to make an illegal move, the computer won't allow you to place the card.

What Are The Differences Between Spider Solitaire And Classic Solitaire?

In Classic Solitaire, all four suits are used. In Spider Solitaire, the number of suits can vary depending on your level. One suit is beginner, two is intermediate and three or four is expert level.

The sequence of cards. In Spider Solitaire, cards must be of the same suit in order to place them in sequential order if you want to be able to move that run of cards. You can stack different suits, but then you won't be able to move them as a group.

In Classic Solitaire, the sequenced cards must be of alternating red and black suits.

Cards from the Reserve. In Classic Solitaire, players deal a single card from the pile. In Spider Solitaire, you deal a single card to each column in the Table or Tableau.

Difficulty. Spider Solitaire is arguably the most difficult of all Solitaire games. It has been estimated that the most expert players can only win around 50% of time as many games are simply impossible to win.

Why is it called Spider Solitaire?

The game typically uses eight foundation piles that must be filled to win the game. This layout of eight piles resembles the eight legs of a spider. However, some versions of Spider Solitaire use more than eight piles.

The game requires two decks. Each deck contains 52 cards. These are dealt to the Tableau in ten piles, face down except for the top cards. The Tableau, also known as the Table, consists of ten stacks with six cards in the first four stacks, with the sixth card face up, and five cards in the remaining six stacks, with the fifth card face up.

How To Setup The Spider Solitaire Game Space

The online version will set up the game-space for you. The Spider Solitaire game space consists of these elements:

The Draw. Two decks of 52 cards each deck. These are shuffled into random order. Of course, the computer versions will shuffle the decks for you.
A Table, or Tableau. These are either empty spaces or feature cards that are temporarily stored before being discarded.
The Foundations. Spaces where you move the sequences of cards, In this online version, once you achieve a Royal Flush, the cards are removed from play.
The Reserve. The pile from which remaining cards are drawn.

Spider Solitaire Game.

The Table Or Tableau

The Table is formed by ten piles of cards. The piles are built from left to right. After the deck has been shuffled, five cards are dealt to each column, except the first four columns, which receive six cards. The top cards are turned over.

The Foundations

The Foundations are the piles onto which you arrange the Table stacks. In this online version of the game, once you complete a stack, they are removed from play.

The Reserve

The Reserve is the pile of remaining cards after all cards are dealt onto the Table. These cards can be drawn and brought into play.

Spider Solitaire Game Rules

The rules of Spider Solitaire are:

The game is played with two decks.
Four rows of ten facedown cards are dealt to form the Tableau columns.
Four more cards are dealt face down from the four left-most columns and then a face-up card is dealt to the end of each column.
Building is carried out in the Tableau columns
You may move any exposed card from the end of a Tableau column to another Tableau column if it creates a descending sequence.
You may also move a packed descending sequence of cards as a group to another Tableau column but only if they are the same suit.
When you manage to create a descending sequence of cards from King to Ace of the same suit it is transferred to the Foundation pile.
When all 104 cards have been played to the Foundation, you win the game.

Scoring

Time.

The faster you complete the game, the better your "score". This isn't important for the single player game as your aim is simply to clear the Table, however if you're playing against others in an online tournament, the fastest time is how the winner is decided.

In computer tournaments, each player is typically given decks in the same shuffled order so that each player must play the game from the same starting position.

Spider Solitaire Strategy

Deal with your face down cards first. Face down cards limit your options. If you have the option of freeing a face down card or playing a card from the Draw pile, play the card on the Table first.

Give yourself options by exposing hidden cards, when possible.

Uncovering hidden cards leads to a new set of possible moves.

If you don't have a King, do not empty a pile. You won't be able to create a new one unless you have a King.

Use empty piles as a temporary place to store cards while rearranging sequences into a fully packed build. Move cards to empty spaces to turn over more cards.

Begin building with the cards of the highest rank. Starting from higher cards allows you to get more cards into the stack below it. However, if you start with a low card, the build will be soon finished with an Ace.

Aim to maintain suits. If you mix them up, you will limit your possibilities.

When playing four suits, half of all Spider Solitaire games are winnable. You may need to restart often in order to complete a game.

Try to avoid dealing more cards until you absolutely must do so. Each time you deal more cards, it will block a number of moves if any were available. If you have any empty columns, use them before dealing more cards as this will fill that column with a random card from the deck.

Spider Solitaire FAQs

What happens if you get stuck?

You lose the game. Always try to keep as many options open as you can. Maintaining options is the key to winning Spider Solitaire.

How many cards are used?

Spider Solitaire with four suits uses two standard 52 decks of playing cards. If you play with two suits you would then use half of four standard decks. If you play with one suit you would use a quarter of eight decks.

Are Aces high or low?

The Ace is low in Spider Solitaire. The King is high.

What Are the chances Of winning?

Winning chances in a normal game with good play are considered to be about one in three games. Expert players can win up to 50% of the time.

Playing with fewer suits increases your chances of winning dramatically. You can win around 98% to 99% two-suit games and almost 100% of single-suit games.

What are alternative versions of Spider Solitaire?

There are many different names and versions of Spider Solitaire. Other names and versions include:

Spider 1 Suit: This game is played with one suit instead of 4. Fewer suits makes the game easier, whereas more suits make it harder.
Spider 2 Suit: This game is played with two suits instead of four.
Spiderwort: This game uses three decks.
Gigantic Spider: This game uses four decks.
Relaxed Spider: Not all spaces need to be filled before redealing. This is an easier version.
Spiderette: Uses only one pack with seven stacks.