Spider Solitaire
Also known as Spider Solitaire or two-deck solitaire — 104 cards in 10 columns, playable at 1, 2 or 4 suits.
Free online Spider Solitaire with all three classic difficulties: 1 suit for learning, 2 suits for a real challenge, 4 suits for experts. Build full King-to-Ace runs in one suit to clear them from the table — right in your browser, no download needed.
Daily Puzzle
Settings
Solved!
How to play Spider Solitaire — the rules
- Goal: build eight complete runs from King down to Ace in a single suit — each finished run flies off the table automatically.
- Stack cards downward regardless of suit (any 7 can go on any 8) — but only same-suit runs can be picked up and moved together.
- An empty column accepts any card or run — empty columns are your most powerful tool.
- Tap the stock to deal one new card onto every column. Every column must have at least one card before you can deal.
- Start with 1 suit to learn the flow, then move up to 2 suits and finally the full 4-suit game.
Keyboard: Tab or arrow keys to move around, Enter to move a run, D to deal, Ctrl+Z to undo.
Deals are random, like a real shuffle — not every Spider deal can be won, especially with 4 suits. The daily deal is the same for everyone worldwide.
Spider Solitaire setup — how the cards are dealt
Spider uses two full decks, 104 cards. Fifty-four of them go into the tableau as ten columns: the first four hold six cards each, the other six hold five. Only the last card of each column starts face up, so 44 cards are hidden from you on the first move.
The 50 cards left over sit in the stock. Each time you use it, one card is dealt onto every column at once — ten cards, five deals in all. There is no waste pile and nothing to recycle: once the stock is empty, the rest of the game is played with what is already on the table.
You cannot deal while a column is empty. The game makes you fill the gap first, which is why an empty column is something to spend rather than something to sit on.
The game ends when eight complete runs — King down to Ace in one suit — have been built and taken off the board. In the one-suit game every card is the same suit, so only the order matters; in four suits a run has to stay in one suit the whole way down.
Spider Solitaire terms
- Tableau — the ten columns. You may drop any card onto one a rank higher whatever its suit, but you can only pick several cards up together when they are the same suit in descending order. That gap between what you may place and what you may carry is the whole game.
- Stock — the pile holding the undealt cards. It deals ten at a time, one to every column, and it refuses to deal at all while a column stands empty.
- Run — a same-suit sequence from King down to Ace. Complete one and it leaves the board permanently, taking thirteen cards of clutter with it.
- Suits — the difficulty dial. One, two or four suits change none of the rules; they change how often the card you need turns out to be the wrong suit to carry.
Why some deals are harder than others
Forty-four of the 104 cards start face down, and unlike Klondike you never see the stock coming — it lands on every column at once, on top of whatever you had arranged. That is why the four suits game is not simply the one suit game with more colours: every deal from the stock is likely to break a run you were building, and you cannot lift the pieces back out unless they happen to match in suit. The other thing that decides a deal is what you do with empty columns. They are the only place to park a card of the wrong suit, but the stock will not deal while one is open, so every column you empty is borrowed and has to be paid back before the next deal. Deals here are a genuine shuffle and we do not filter them, so some cannot be won; unlimited undo is there so you can go back and find out whether the line existed.
Strategy and tips
How to Play Spider Solitaire: seven techniques for 1, 2 and 4 suits
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between 1 suit, 2 suits and 4 suits in Spider Solitaire?
The rules are identical — the difficulty is in how often suits mix. With 1 suit (all spades) every stack you build can also be moved, so it is the best way to learn. With 2 suits you must keep spades and hearts apart, and with 4 suits — the original expert game — almost every move needs planning several turns ahead.
Can every Spider Solitaire game be won?
No. Spider deals here are random, like a real shuffle, and we say so honestly: most 1-suit deals can be won with careful play and undo, but at 4 suits a meaningful share of deals cannot be beaten no matter how well you play. Winning around a third of your 4-suit games is already very good.
How many cards does Spider Solitaire use?
Two full decks — 104 cards. 54 are dealt into ten columns at the start, and the remaining 50 sit in the stock for five deals of ten cards each.
Why can't I deal from the stock?
Spider's classic rule: you may only deal when every column has at least one card. Move a card or run into each empty column first, then deal.