Clear eight suited runs in 1-suit, 2-suit, or 4-suit mode.
Build descending sequences across ten columns, deal from stock only when every column is filled, and remove complete king-to-ace suited runs. Nearly every 1-suit deal can be won; 4-suit Spider humbles even veterans — undo, hints, and persistent stats travel with you up the ladder.
Spider Solitaire is a two-deck solitaire game played across ten tableau columns. Your goal is to build complete suited runs from king down to ace. Whenever a full suited run is assembled, it leaves the tableau. Win by clearing all eight runs.
This section explains the rules for 1-suit, 2-suit, and 4-suit Spider Solitaire. The board shape is the same in every version; the difference is how many suits are mixed into the deck. One suit is friendly, two suits is the best learning challenge, and four suits is the classic hard game.
Spider Solitaire uses 104 cards. In a physical deck, that means two standard decks shuffled together. In 1-suit Spider, all cards are treated as the same suit, usually spades. In 2-suit Spider, the deck uses two suits, commonly spades and hearts. In 4-suit Spider, all four suits are present and the game is much harder.
Deal ten tableau columns. The first four columns receive six cards each. The remaining six columns receive five cards each. Only the top card of every column starts face up. The other 50 cards form the stock.
The goal is to create eight complete suited sequences from king down to ace. A complete run looks like K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A, all in the same suit. Once the run is complete and exposed in one tableau column, it is removed automatically to a foundation.
You do not build foundations upward like Klondike. Spider is won from inside the tableau. The foundations are simply storage for the completed runs you have already assembled.
You may place any face-up card or valid moving sequence onto a card that is one rank higher. A 9 can go on a 10, a queen can go on a king, and an ace can go on a 2. Empty tableau columns can accept any movable card or sequence.
The important distinction is between building and moving. You may build mixed-suit descending stacks, but you can only move a sequence as a group when that sequence is in descending order and the same suit. For example, 9 of spades, 8 of spades, 7 of spades can move together. A 9 of spades, 8 of hearts, 7 of spades stack may be built on the board, but it cannot move as one group.
A move can be legal and still make the board worse. Placing a black 8 on a red 9 is legal in a mixed-suit game, but it may trap the 8 if the cards below it are not the same suit. Before moving a card, ask whether the move reveals a hidden card, creates an empty column, joins a same-suit sequence, or simply covers a useful stack with another blocker.
When you remove the last face-up card from a column, the top face-down card in that column flips face up. Revealing hidden cards is the engine of the game. Most winning Spider hands come from creating enough movement to expose buried cards before the stock adds more pressure.
When you run out of useful moves, deal from the stock. A stock deal places one face-up card on each of the ten tableau columns. Since the stock has 50 cards, you get five stock deals.
Standard Spider rules do not allow a stock deal while any tableau column is empty. Fill empty columns before dealing. This restriction matters because empty columns are your best workspace; once you deal, every column receives a new card and many carefully built sequences can become buried.
Deal only after you have exposed what you reasonably can. A premature stock deal can put mismatched cards on top of every useful column. A late stock deal can also be bad if you spend too many moves preserving an empty column with no productive plan. The best timing is usually after you have made at least one empty column, sorted a same-suit sequence, or uncovered a meaningful face-down card.
The no-empty-column stock rule prevents a player from dodging the cost of a deal. A stock deal is supposed to add one card to every tableau column. If empty columns were allowed, the player could keep a workspace open while the rest of the board got harder. Requiring every column to contain at least one card keeps the stock deal symmetrical and forces you to decide when an empty column has done enough work.
A bad stock deal often buries your cleanest sequence under off-suit cards. Do not panic and move every card immediately. First look for any same-suit continuation that can be restored, then look for a column that can be emptied in one or two moves. If neither exists, choose moves that reveal face-down cards rather than moves that merely tidy visible cards.
The rules are identical across variants. What changes is the difficulty of making same-suit runs. In 1-suit Spider, every descending sequence is automatically suited, so most built stacks can move together. This makes it ideal for learning stock timing and empty-column management.
In 2-suit Spider, mixed stacks are common. You can build a heart 8 on a spade 9, but the mixed sequence cannot move as one group. The game becomes about separating suits before the stock deals bury your work.
In 4-suit Spider, nearly every careless move creates a mixed sequence. Empty columns are precious, same-suit ordering is critical, and many deals require long-range planning across several stock deals.
Curious how steep the climb really is? The odds by suit count page compares win rates across 1-suit, 2-suit, and 4-suit play, with and without undo.
Example 1: A column ends with the 10 of spades. You may move the 9 of hearts onto it because 9 is one rank lower than 10. But if the 9 of hearts has the 8 of hearts and 7 of hearts below it, only the heart sequence beginning at 9 can move together. It still sits legally on the spade 10.
Example 2: You have K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-A all in clubs at the bottom of one tableau column. That run clears automatically to a foundation. If the queen is hearts instead of clubs, the run is not complete and will not clear.
Example 3: One column is empty and the stock still has cards. You cannot deal yet. First move any legal card or sequence into that empty column, then the stock deal becomes available.
Example 4: In 2-suit Spider, you have a 10 of hearts on a jack of spades, with 9-8-7 of hearts below the 10. The hearts sequence can be useful, but it cannot move as a group with the jack because the jack is spades. If you later move the 10 hearts sequence onto a jack of hearts, the whole suited run becomes mobile and much easier to extend.
Example 5: In 4-suit Spider, an empty column may be worth more than completing a short visible build. Moving a king into the empty column can be correct if it exposes a face-down card or lets you reorganize two other columns. Moving a random low card into the empty column just to deal stock is usually weaker because it spends your workspace without improving the board.
In 1-suit Spider, the main skill is tempo. Almost every descending sequence can move, so you focus on opening columns, exposing hidden cards, and timing stock deals. In 2-suit Spider, suit discipline starts to matter. Building a mixed stack may be legal, but you should prefer same-suit moves whenever they keep a sequence mobile.
In 4-suit Spider, the default assumption changes: legal does not mean good. A move that creates a mixed stack can freeze several cards until you find the matching suit above it. Preserve empty columns, avoid burying same-suit runs under off-suit cards, and think of every stock deal as a new layer you will have to excavate.
Across all variants, the win condition stays the same. Clear eight suited king-to-ace runs. The variant changes how difficult it is to make those runs, not what a completed run looks like.
Choose 1-suit when you want a fast puzzle and a high chance to finish. Choose 2-suit when you understand the board but still want room to recover from a rough stock deal. Choose 4-suit when you want the classic Spider Solitaire challenge, where one careless mixed build can matter for several turns. The controls are the same, so moving between variants is mostly a change in planning depth.
If you are moving from Klondike, remember that Spider rewards clearing space before chasing foundations. A partially sorted tableau with an empty column is usually stronger than a tidy-looking tableau with every column blocked.
Start with 1-suit Spider, then move to 2-suit and 4-suit as your same-suit planning improves. You can also use the rules hub version at cardgamerules.org/spider-solitaire-rules.
Spider Solitaire is the rare card game that grows with you. The board never changes — ten columns, two decks, eight runs to clear — but the suit count turns the same layout into three different games. One suit is a relaxed warm-up where every sequence can become a run. Two suits is the classic challenge, where mixed stacks start to cost you. Four suits is expert territory, where one careless deal can lock the whole tableau.
This free Spider Solitaire game uses the traditional layout. The first four columns start with six cards, the other six start with five, and the 50-card stock deals one card onto every column. Your goal is to assemble eight complete suited runs from king down to ace; each finished run clears off the tableau to the foundations.
If you are new, start with the 1-suit game and learn the rhythm: dig out face-down cards, keep an empty column in reserve, and never deal the stock with a column wide open. When 1-suit wins come easily, move up to 2 suits, then take on the full 4-suit game. Unlimited undo and persistent stats are there for every rung of the ladder, and the rules and strategy pages cover the details.
The odds shift more between rungs than most players expect. Solver work suggests that the overwhelming majority of Spider deals — even 4-suit ones — are theoretically winnable, yet practical results tell a different story: 1-suit players routinely win more than half their games, 2-suit players fight to stay near one in three, and 4-suit win rates without undo sink into single digits. The reason is information. At the start of a hand, 44 tableau cards lie face down and 50 more wait in the stock, so 94 of the 104 cards are unknown when you make your first move. The odds page on this site breaks the numbers down rung by rung.
Spider also rewards a particular daily-play temperament. Because a full game runs longer than a hand of Klondike — five stock deals, eight runs, and often a hundred-plus moves — regulars tend to treat each deal as a small project: open a column before the first stock deal, keep suits clean in the midgame, and save undo experiments for the moments when one buried card decides everything. Your win counts persist in the browser, so climbing from a 1-suit warm-up habit to a 4-suit record is a progression you can actually watch happen.
Columns
10
Classic Spider layout with 54 cards in tableau — 44 of them face down at the deal.
Hidden at start
94 cards
Face-down tableau cards plus the 50-card stock — only 10 of 104 cards begin in view.
Goal
8 runs
Clear complete suited king-to-ace runs, 13 cards each.
Start with 1-suit Spider if you are learning. Move to 2-suit when you can plan empty columns. Use 4-suit when you want the classic hard mode.
An empty column is the strongest resource in Spider Solitaire. It lets you rearrange sequences, expose face-down cards, and recover from mixed-suit stacks.
Every stock deal adds one face-up card to all ten columns. Deal too early and you bury useful sequences. Deal too late and you may run out of productive moves.
The gap between suit counts is measured in multiples, not percentage points. Moving from 1 suit to 4 can cut a typical win rate by a factor of ten, even though the layout and rules never change.
Need a rules-first reference before choosing a difficulty? Use the companion pages on cardgamerules.org for Spider rules, solitaire variants, and direct comparisons with Klondike.