Spider Solitaire Rules

Setup

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.

Board summary

• Ten tableau columns hold 54 starting cards.
• Only the top card of each tableau column is face up.
• The stock contains 50 cards, dealt in five packets of ten.
• Eight foundations receive completed king-to-ace suited runs.

Goal

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.

Moving Cards

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.

Legal moves versus useful moves

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.

Turning face-down cards

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.

Dealing From Stock

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.

When should you deal?

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.

Why empty columns are restricted

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.

Recovering after a bad deal

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.

1-Suit, 2-Suit, and 4-Suit Rules

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.

Examples

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.

Variant Strategy Differences

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.

Choosing the right variant

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.