Solitaire
Also known as Klondike, Patience or just "cards" — the classic single-player card game.
Free online Klondike solitaire, playable right in your browser — no download needed. Drag or tap to move cards, switch between draw 1 and draw 3, undo as much as you like, and come back for today's daily deal.
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How to play Solitaire — the rules
- Goal: build the four foundations up from Ace to King, one suit each.
- On the tableau, stack cards downward in alternating colors — a red 7 goes on a black 8.
- Only a King (or a stack starting with one) may move onto an empty column.
- Tap the stock to deal new cards. When it runs out, tap again to flip the waste back over — no limit.
- Uncover every face-down card; once all cards are face up, Auto-finish completes the game for you.
Keyboard: Tab or arrow keys to move around, Enter to move a card, D to draw, Ctrl+Z to undo.
Deals are random, like a real shuffle — not every deal can be won. The daily deal is the same for everyone worldwide.
Solitaire setup — how the cards are dealt
A Klondike deal uses one 52-card deck. Twenty-eight of those cards go into the tableau as seven columns — one card in the first, two in the second, up to seven in the last. Only the bottom card of each column starts face up, so 21 cards are still hidden from you on the first move.
The 24 cards left over become the stock. Turning it over gives you one card at a time, or three at a time in draw 3, and the cards you have turned sit face up in the waste beside it. When the stock empties you can turn the waste back over and go round again, with no limit on passes.
Four foundations sit empty above the tableau, one per suit. They stay empty until the first Ace turns up, and filling all four from Ace to King is what ends the game.
None of this needs setting up by hand here — the deal is made for you when the page loads. There is one daily deal each day that is identical for every player worldwide, and you can start a fresh random deal at any time.
Solitaire terms
- Tableau — the seven columns in the middle of the board. You build downward in alternating colours here, a red seven onto a black eight, and only a King may move into a column you have emptied.
- Stock — the face-down pile in the corner. Tap it to turn over the next card, or the next three in draw 3; tap it once more after it empties to recycle the waste.
- Waste — the face-up pile beside the stock. Only its top card is playable, so the card you need is often sitting one below the one you can reach.
- Foundation — the four piles built up from Ace to King, one suit each. A card sent up too early can be brought back down to the tableau, which is worth remembering before you undo several moves to fetch it.
Why some deals are harder than others
Twenty-one of the 52 cards start face down, so the board you can see on the first move is less than half the deal, and the difficulty is decided mostly by where the low cards are hiding. An Ace at the bottom of the seventh column has six cards stacked on top of it; the same Ace in the second column has one. Draw 3 tightens it further, because the stock only offers you every third card until a tableau move shifts the offset. Unlike our FreeCell, where every deal is checked by an independent solver before you ever see it, Klondike here is a genuine shuffle that we do not filter — the face-down cards make verifying a deal in advance a different problem. So a deal that will not come out is sometimes the deal rather than the player, and unlimited undo is there so you can go back and find out which it was.
Strategy and tips
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of Klondike solitaire games are winnable?
Research on Klondike puts the share of theoretically winnable deals at roughly 80%. Real win rates are much lower because you cannot see the face-down cards — every mistake can bury a card you need. Draw 3 lowers your practical chances further.
What is the difference between draw 1 and draw 3?
With draw 1 you turn over one stock card at a time and can use every card. With draw 3 you turn three at once but can only play the top one, so fewer cards are reachable each pass — the classic harder variant. You can switch modes in the settings here, or play our dedicated Turn 3 page.
Can every move be undone?
Yes — undo is unlimited, all the way back to the first move, and it works during Auto-finish too. Your game is saved automatically, so you can close the tab and continue later.
Is the daily deal the same for everyone?
Yes. Each day there is one worldwide deal, the same for every player, switching over at midnight in your local time zone. Finish it to keep your streak going.