Spider Solitaire

How to play Spider Solitaire

Spider is played with two decks of cards — 104 in all — spread across ten columns. The goal is to build eight complete runs, each going from King all the way down to Ace in a single suit. Every finished run leaves the table by itself. Clear all eight and you've won.

The layout

Ten columns: 54 cards are dealt to start, with only the bottom card of each column face up. The first four columns have six cards; the rest have five.
The stock: the face-down pile at the top left holds the other 50 cards — five new rows of ten. The number of cards in the pile shows how many deals are left.
Finished runs: each completed King-to-Ace run moves to the spaces at the top, shown as its King.

Moving cards

Any card can go on a card one rank higher, whatever its suit — a 6 of hearts can go on a 7 of spades.
But a group of cards only moves together when it's all one suit and in order, like the 9, 8 and 7 of spades. That's what makes building in suit so important.
Tap a card to pick it up, together with the cards below it, then tap the column where you want it to go.
Tap the same card twice and it moves to the best place on its own — onto a card of its own suit if it can.
When you move the last face-up card off a face-down card, the face-down card turns over by itself.
Any card, or any group of one suit, can go into an empty column.

Dealing a new row

When you run out of moves, tap the face-down pile (or the Deal button) to deal one new card onto every column. There's one rule to remember: every column needs at least one card before you can deal, so fill any empty column first. You can deal five times in a game.

One, two or four suits

1 suit uses only spades, so every card can join every run. It's the best way to learn, and most games can be won with careful play.
2 suits uses spades and hearts. Now you have to keep the suits apart, which makes the game noticeably harder.
4 suits uses every suit and is one of the hardest solitaire games there is. Winning one is a real achievement.

Choose the number of suits in Settings. Your choice applies to the next new game.

Tips

Build in suit whenever you can. A run of one suit can move as a group; a mixed run is stuck where it is until you take it apart card by card.
Turn over face-down cards, starting with the columns that have the most. Hidden cards are what make Spider hard.
Treat an empty column as a tool. It's the best place to rearrange runs and sort out mixed suits. Try not to fill it with a card that can't easily move on again — especially a King, which can only ever go into an empty column.
Tidy up before you deal. A new row covers every column, so make the moves you can first — especially ones that join cards of the same suit.
Use Undo to explore. There's no limit, and you can even undo a deal.

Questions

Can every game be won?

Not every one. With one suit, most games can be won with patience. With four suits, many deals are very hard, and some can't be won at all. If a game beats you, start a new one. Your record (under Settings) keeps a separate win rate for each number of suits, so a hard four-suit game never drags down your one-suit score.

Why won't it let me deal?

A new row can only be dealt when every column has at least one card in it. Move any card or run into the empty column, then deal.

What happens when I finish a run?

As soon as a column ends with a full King-to-Ace run of one suit, the run is cleared from the table and its King appears at the top. The card above it turns over, ready to play.

Is my game saved?

Yes. Your game is saved automatically in this browser, so you can close the page and come back later on the same device.

What is the deal number?

Every deal has a number, and the same number with the same number of suits always gives the same cards. Bookmark the page or share the link to play a deal again — or try today's deal, which is the same for everyone.

The cards look small on my phone. What can I do?

Spider needs ten columns side by side, so the cards are narrow on a phone held upright. Turn your phone sideways for bigger cards, or play on a tablet or computer. Our guide to making games easier to see has more ideas.