Klondike solitaire: rules, moves, and useful tactics

Klondike has one deck and a simple goal: move all 52 cards to four suited foundations from Ace to King. The trouble starts earlier, when the card you need is face down beneath a full column.

The table

The tableau has seven columns. The first contains one card, the second two, and so on up to seven. Only the top card of each column is face up. Another 24 cards remain in the stock, and four empty foundation spaces sit above the tableau.

Legal moves

• Build tableau columns downward in alternating colours. A red eight can go on a black nine.

• A correctly ordered sequence may be moved as a group.

• Only a King, or a sequence beginning with a King, may fill an empty column.

• Foundations build upward by suit from Ace to King without gaps.

Clicking the stock turns a card into the waste. Draw-one makes every turned card available. Draw-three requires more planning because only one card from each group is immediately exposed.

Choosing a useful move

Try to uncover face-down tableau cards first. Moving an Ace to a foundation helps, but revealing a hidden card often creates several new choices at once.

Do not send every card to the foundations automatically. A four or five may still be needed in the tableau to move a sequence. An empty column is also useful as temporary working space, so filling it immediately is not always best.

If the deal stalls, undo a few moves and change their order. In Klondike, the order of two otherwise legal moves can decide whether a hidden card becomes reachable.

Controls and variants

Drag cards with a mouse or finger. A short click sends a card to its foundation when possible. The game panel contains controls for a new deal and undo.

Play draw-one Klondike or the stricter draw-three game.