How to play solitaire

Klondike is the solitaire most people mean when they say “solitaire.” You deal out a layout, move cards between piles to uncover the hidden ones, and try to build all four suits up from ace to king. This page covers the rules exactly as ShuffleFast plays them, including a few details that differ between versions of the game.

The goal

Move all 52 cards onto the four foundation piles, one pile per suit, each built up from ace to king. When the stock, the waste and every column are empty, you have won.

The layout

The game uses one standard 52-card deck, shuffled. The cards are arranged in four areas:

• Tableau. Seven columns. The first has one card, the second two, and so on up to seven. Only the last card in each column is face up; the rest are face down. That is 28 cards.
• Stock. The remaining 24 cards, face down, in a single pile.
• Waste. Where cards from the stock are turned over. It starts empty.
• Foundations. Four piles, one for each suit, all empty at first.

Legal moves

Building in the tableau

On a column you place a card that is one rank lower and the opposite color than the card it lands on. A red 8 goes on a black 9; a black 8 goes on a red 9. Kings are high and aces are low, so the order runs king, queen, jack, 10 down to 2, then ace.

Any run of face-up cards can be moved as a unit, as long as the top card of the run fits on its new column. The cards of a run always stay in order, and you can move as many as you like at once.

When you move the last face-up card off a column, the face-down card beneath it turns over automatically.

Empty columns

An empty column accepts only a king, or a king with the run built on it. Nothing else can start a new column.

Building the foundations

Each foundation starts with the ace of its suit and builds up in order: ace, 2, 3, and so on to the king. A card can go to a foundation from the top of a column or from the waste. You can only move one card at a time onto a foundation.

Cards on a foundation are not locked in. The top card of a foundation can be dragged back onto a column if it fits there. That can help when a card you have already sent up turns out to be the one you need as a base.

The stock and the waste

ShuffleFast offers two ways to turn over the stock: draw three and draw one. On the home page, choose “Draw 3” or “Draw 1” above the play buttons before you start a solo or co-op game. The choice is remembered in your browser, and draw three is used if you have not picked. In a co-op game the host’s choice applies to everyone at the table. The daily puzzle is always draw three.

In draw three, each click on the stock turns three cards over onto the waste pile (fewer if fewer than three remain). The waste fans out so you can see the last three cards, but only the top one, the last card turned over, can be played. The two below it become available one at a time as you play the card above them. In draw one, each click turns over a single card, and that card is the only one shown and playable.

When the stock is empty, its place turns into a “Recycle” button. Clicking it turns the whole waste back into the stock, with the cards in the same order as before. There is no limit on how many times you can go through the stock. Because cards you played are missing on the next pass, the groups of three (in draw three) will not line up the same way twice.

Playing in ShuffleFast

• Move cards by dragging them with a mouse, a finger or a pen. Pick up a card in a column to carry it and every card on top of it. Drop it on another column. A card dropped anywhere on the foundations area goes to its own suit's pile. If the move is not legal, the cards slide back.
• Draw and recycle by clicking or tapping the stock. It is a real button, so you can also reach it with the keyboard.
• Moving cards is drag-only. There is no double-click or tap-to-send shortcut and no keyboard control for individual cards.
• Suggested moves. Under the board, “See suggested moves” lists a few straightforward plays. It won't spot every clever line, and you are free to ignore it.
• Finish fast. Once the stock and waste are empty and every card in the columns is face up, a “Finish fast” button appears. It sends all the remaining cards to the foundations for you.
• Timer and moves. The bar above the board shows elapsed time and a move count. Each legal move counts once, including every click on the stock.
• New game. The “New game” button in the header deals again after you confirm. There is no undo.

A short sample sequence

Here is a mid-game position, followed by three moves in order:

1. Drag the 8 of diamonds from the waste onto the 9 of spades. A red 8 fits on a black 9.
2. Drag the 7 of clubs from the third column onto the 8 of diamonds. Black on red, one rank lower. The column it left turns over its next card, a 3 of hearts.
3. Drag the queen of diamonds with the jack of spades on it onto the king of clubs. This moves two cards at once. The column it left turns over a 2 of clubs.

Nothing was lost by making these moves, and two hidden cards are now in play. The next step would be to look at the new cards and decide again. Choosing between moves like these is what the strategy guide is about.

Looking for Spider or FreeCell?

This guide is about Klondike. ShuffleFast also plays Spider solitaire, which uses two decks and ten columns, and FreeCell, where every card is dealt face up. Their rules are on the Spider solitaire page and the FreeCell page.

Not every deal can be won

Deals are shuffled at random. Some can't be won with any sequence of moves, and skill decides only part of the rest. If you get stuck, start a new game.