The Goal: Remove Eight Complete Runs
Spider Solitaire uses 104 physical cards arranged into ten tableau columns and a stock. Your goal is to build eight complete sequences from King down to Ace, each entirely in one suit. A completed run is removed automatically. You win when all 104 cards have left the tableau as those eight runs.
The number of suits changes the difficulty, but the movement and stock rules stay the same. 1 Suit Spider uses Spades, 2 Suit Spider uses Spades and Hearts, and 4 Suit Spider uses all four suits.
How the Opening Deal Works
The tableau starts with 54 cards. Reading the columns from left to right, the distribution is 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 / 5 / 5 / 5 / 5 / 5 / 5. Only the final card in each column starts face up. That leaves ten visible cards and 44 face-down cards to uncover.
The remaining 50 cards form the stock, divided into five deals of ten. Duplicate ranks and suits are separate physical cards. In four-suit Spider, for example, there are two Kings of Hearts; either can belong to a completed Hearts run.
Moving a Single Card
An exposed face-up card can move onto the exposed card of another column when the receiving card is exactly one rank higher. Suit and color do not restrict this single-card placement.
For example, a Seven of Hearts can go onto an Eight of Spades, an Eight of Hearts or any other Eight. A Seven cannot go onto a Nine. A King has no higher rank to land on, so it can move only to an empty column.
When moving the last face-up card or run uncovers a face-down card, that newly exposed card turns face up automatically. Face-down cards cannot move. A covered face-up card cannot move by itself; it can move only as part of an eligible run.
Moving Several Cards Together
A group can move together only when every card is face up, each card is one rank below the preceding card, and the whole moving group is in the same suit. The group must extend to the exposed end of its column.
An Eight–Seven–Six of Spades can move as one run onto any Nine. An Eight of Spades followed by a Seven of Hearts cannot move as a pair, even though the ranks descend correctly. You must first find somewhere to move the Seven.
A movable run may be part of a larger mixed stack. If a Nine of Hearts sits above an Eight–Seven–Six of Spades, the three Spades can move together. The Hearts Nine cannot travel with them.
Using Empty Columns
Any exposed single card or valid movable run may enter an empty tableau column. Empty columns are not restricted to Kings. They are useful temporary spaces for separating mixed-suit stacks or uncovering a hidden card.
For example, you could move a Five–Four of Clubs into an empty column, move the newly exposed Six elsewhere, then place the Clubs run onto a different Six. Before doing that, check whether the rearrangement leaves a way to fill the empty column again.
Dealing from the Stock
Select the stock to add one face-up card to each of the ten tableau columns. There are five stock deals, so the displayed remaining-deal count goes from five to zero. You cannot choose a column for an individual stock card.
Every tableau column must contain a card before you can deal stock. If a column is empty, fill it with a card or movable run first. The stock does not skip empty columns. Once all five deals are used, finish the game with the cards already on the table.
Stock can cover a useful exposed card or split access to a run you were building. You do not have to deal as soon as you run out of an obvious same-suit move; look for rearrangements first.
Completing and Removing a Run
A complete run contains thirteen exposed cards of one suit in the exact order King, Queen, Jack, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, Ace. Spider removes it automatically when the sequence is completed at the exposed end of a column.
If the removal reveals another face-down card, that card flips automatically too. The completed-run display advances toward eight. A descending King-to-Ace stack containing more than one suit does not count as a completed run.
Choosing Between One, Two and Four Suits
- One suit: every descending group is suit-compatible. It is a useful version for learning reveals, stock timing and empty-column moves.
- Two suits: legal placements can create mixed groups. Plan how to separate Spades and Hearts into movable runs.
- Four suits: more suit boundaries make it harder to move large groups. Working space and same-suit joins need closer attention.
Undo, Restart and New Game
Undo reverses an accepted action, including any flips and completed-run removals caused by it. Restart returns to the same original deal. New Game starts a different deal. These controls let you compare plans without implying that every random deal has a winning solution.
Ready to apply the rules? Open Spider Solitaire, or read the strategy guide for ways to prioritize moves when several are legal.