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Rules

How to play Spider Solitaire

Updated · 1 player · two decks · about 20 minutes a deal

Spider is a solitaire, a card game for one player, played with two decks. You lay out ten columns of cards and try to build runs of one suit, from the king down to the ace. Each full run leaves the table, and when all eight have gone, you have won. It comes in three strengths: with one suit it is the beginner's version, and with four suits it is the original game, and much harder. You play one deal at a time: everything you do with one shuffle of the cards is one deal.

Practice this game. Rules make more sense once you have held the cards. Play Spider in your browser, with a coach beside the cards, a Hint button that explains one good move, and Undo as often as you like. It starts with one suit.

Practice Spider Solitaire

Spider at a glance

  • Players: One.
  • Cards: Two decks without jokers, 104 cards. The ace is the lowest card and the king is the highest.
  • Dealing: Ten columns: 6 cards in each of the first four and 5 in each of the other six, 54 cards in all. Only the last card of each column is face up. The 50 cards left over make the draw pile.
  • Goal: Build eight full runs, each one suit in order from the king down to the ace. Each full run leaves the table.
  • How play goes: Put cards onto cards one rank higher, of any suit, and move runs of one suit together. When no move helps, deal a new row of ten cards from the draw pile, one onto each column.
  • Winning: You win when all eight runs have left the table. Many deals cannot be won, especially with four suits.

What you need

Two full 52-card decks without jokers, shuffled together: 104 cards. You also need a table with room for ten columns of cards side by side. Cards go in this order, from lowest to highest: ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king. A card's place in this order is its rank, so a 7 is one rank higher than a 6. In this game the ace is always the lowest card, and nothing is higher than the king.

One suit, two suits or four

Spider is always played with 104 cards, but they can be made of one, two or four suits:

  • Four suits. Two ordinary decks: two of every card. This is the original game, and the hardest.
  • Two suits. Only spades and hearts: four of every spade and four of every heart.
  • One suit. Only spades: eight of every spade. This is the beginner's version, and the place to start.

The one-suit and two-suit versions are mostly played on a computer, because with real cards you would need the spades (and hearts) of eight decks. The rules are the same in all three; only the cards change. Fewer suits make it easier because, as you will see below, only cards of the same suit can move together.

Dealing the cards

  1. Shuffle the 104 cards together. Deal ten columns, from left to right, one card at a time, going round and round: the first four columns get 6 cards each, and the other six get 5 each. That uses 54 cards.
  2. Lay each column so that its cards overlap, with the last card showing in full. Turn up only the last card of each column. The cards above it stay face down. These are the hidden cards.
  3. Put the 50 cards that are left face down in one pile. This is the draw pile. It is dealt out later, ten cards at a time, as five new rows.

Building in the columns

A card can go onto the last card of any column if that card is exactly one rank higher, whatever its suit. A 6 goes onto any 7: the 6♥ onto the 7♠ or onto the 7♥. A card cannot skip a rank, and a king can go onto nothing, because nothing is higher than a king.

Building on the same suit matters, though, because of the next rule.

Moving cards: runs

A run is two or more cards of one suit, in order, each one rank lower than the one above it, such as 9♠ 8♠ 7♠. You can pick up:

  • The last card of a column, on its own.
  • A run at the end of a column, or the lower part of one. Pick up any card of the run and every card below it comes with it. They go onto a card one rank higher than the first card you picked up, of any suit.

Cards that are in order but not of one suit cannot move together. If a column ends with the 8♠, then the 7♥, you can move the 7♥ alone, but not the two cards as one. That is why the same suit matters: a 7♥ on the 8♥ can move on with it later, and a 7♥ on the 8♠ cannot.

When you move all the face-up cards out of a column, the hidden card above them turns face up. Turning over hidden cards is the main job: you cannot win until every card has been face up.

Empty columns

When you move every card out of a column, it is empty. Any card can go into an empty column, and so can any run. That makes an empty column the most useful place on the table: you can park cards there while you take another column apart.

Full runs leave the table

When a column ends with a whole suit in order, from the king down to the ace, those 13 cards leave the table. Put them aside, face up. If that leaves a hidden card at the end of the column, turn it face up. With real cards you take it off yourself as soon as it is made; in most computer versions, and in the practice game, it leaves by itself. There are eight runs to make: two of each suit with four suits, four of each with two suits, and eight of spades with one suit.

Dealing a new row

When you cannot, or do not want to, make any other move, deal a new row from the draw pile: one card face up onto the end of each of the ten columns, from left to right. The new cards land on top of whatever was there, even in the middle of a run you were building.

You may only deal when no column is empty. If a column is empty, put a card or a run into it first. The draw pile holds five rows, so you deal at most five times in a deal.

Winning, and when you are stuck

You win when all eight full runs have left the table. You are stuck when the draw pile is used up and no move helps: the only moves left would just shift cards from one card to another, or break up a run. A deal that is stuck is lost.

Not every deal can be won. One suit is much easier than four. With four suits, most deals are lost even with good play: one reference puts the original game at about 1 deal in 3 when it is played well. Two suits sit in between. Undo, which the practice game allows as often as you like, makes a big difference.

Worked example. Column 3 has three hidden cards and ends with the 8♥ and the 7♥, a run. Column 6 ends with the 9♠, and column 9 with the 9♥. The 8♥ can go onto either 9, because a card goes onto any card one rank higher. Choose the 9♥: the 9♥, 8♥ and 7♥ are then one run, and can move together later. You pick up the 8♥, the 7♥ comes with it, and you put them on the 9♥ in column 9. Column 3 now has no face-up card, so its last hidden card turns face up.

Play a practice game of Spider

Rules make more sense once you have held the cards. The practice game deals for you, starting with one suit, lists where the cards you pick up can go, and explains one good move whenever you press Hint. It has no timer, and Undo has no limit, so you can try things without fear. You can also watch the computer play the start of a two-suit deal, with every move explained.

Free, in your browser, with the rules and the common beginner mistakes beside the cards while you play.

Play a practice game

Quick quiz: test yourself on the rules of Spider

Six questions on the rules above. Pick an answer to see whether it is right, and why.

  1. A column ends with the 8 of spades. Which card can go onto it?

    • Only the 7 of spades
    • Any 7, of any suit
    • Only a red 7
    Show the answer

    Any 7, of any suit. In Spider a card goes onto any card exactly one rank higher, whatever its suit. The same suit is better, because only cards of one suit can move on together, but any 7 is allowed.

  2. A column ends with the 9 of hearts, the 8 of spades and the 7 of spades. Which cards can you pick up together?

    • All three
    • None: only one card at a time
    • The 8 and 7 of spades, or the 7 alone
    Show the answer

    The 8 and 7 of spades, or the 7 alone. Cards move together only when they are one suit in order. The 8♠ and 7♠ are a run, so they can move together; the 9♥ is a different suit, so it cannot move with them.

  3. You have emptied a column. What may go into it?

    • Any card, or any run of one suit
    • Only a king
    • Nothing until a new row is dealt
    Show the answer

    Any card, or any run of one suit. That is different from Klondike Solitaire, where only a king goes into an empty column, and it is why an empty column is so useful in Spider.

  4. One column is empty and you want to deal a new row. What must you do?

    • Deal the row, and leave that column empty
    • Put a card or a run into the empty column first
    • Deal the row, and put two cards into the empty column
    Show the answer

    Put a card or a run into the empty column first. You may only deal a new row when no column is empty. Some players allow it anyway, a variation called Relaxed Spider.

  5. What happens to a full run, from the king down to the ace of one suit?

    • It stays in its column until the end of the deal
    • It goes back into the draw pile
    • It leaves the table, and counts as one of the eight runs you need
    Show the answer

    It leaves the table. The 13 cards are put aside, and the deal is won when all eight full runs have gone. If a hidden card is left at the end of that column, it turns face up.

  6. Which version of Spider is the beginner's version?

    • Four suits
    • One suit
    • Two suits
    • They are all equally hard
    Show the answer

    One suit. With one suit every card you build on is the same suit, so everything in order can move together. Four suits is the original game, and the hardest.

Four things beginners miss

Build in the same suit when you can

Any card one rank higher will take a card, but only the same suit lets the cards move on together, and only a run of one suit ever leaves the table. When two 8s are free for your 7♥, choose the 8♥. Put a card on another suit when that is the only way to make progress, for example to turn over a hidden card.

Turn over the hidden cards

Every card has to be face up before you can win. When you can choose, take the move that turns over a hidden card, and work on the column with the fewest hidden cards: it is the closest to becoming empty, and an empty column is worth a lot.

Keep an empty column for later

Because any card can go into an empty column, it lets you take a column apart: park a run there, move the card it uncovers, and bring the run back. Do not fill an empty column with a card that has nowhere better to go unless it turns over a hidden card, or you need every column filled to deal a new row.

Deal a new row only when nothing else helps

A new row covers every column, often in the middle of a run you were building. Make every useful move first, and if you can, finish off a run or tidy a column into one suit before you deal.

Questions people ask

Can I put a card on a card of a different suit?

Yes. Any card one rank higher will do, whatever its suit. The catch is that cards of different suits cannot move on together, so do it only when it helps.

Can I move just part of a run?

Yes. Pick up any card of a run at the end of a column, and the cards below it come with it. Where they go depends only on the first card you picked up.

Do I have to deal a new row?

No. You deal when you choose to, as long as no column is empty. When the five rows are used up, there are no more.

Can a king go into an empty column?

Yes, and it is a good use of one: a king can never go onto another card, so an empty column is the only place it can move to.

Why does the practice game start with one suit?

Because it is the beginner's version. With one suit you learn how runs, empty columns and new rows work without worrying about suits. Then try two suits, and when you win those, four.

Common variations

Rule books and computer versions differ on a few points. If you play with other people's rules, check which of these they use.

  • The Bicycle layout. The Bicycle rules deal ten columns of five cards (50), and then five rows of ten and a last row of four from the draw pile. The usual layout, which the practice game uses and most computer versions follow, deals 54 cards (6 in each of the first four columns and 5 in the others) and then five rows of ten. The game plays the same way.
  • Relaxed Spider. A new row may be dealt even when a column is empty. This makes the game easier.
  • Points. The Windows version of Spider starts you at 500 points, takes 1 point away for each move and adds 100 for each full run. The practice game only counts your moves.
  • Spiderette. A one-deck game laid out in seven columns like Klondike, but built and moved the way Spider is.

We checked these rules against the Bicycle rules and against the reference descriptions of Spider used by the computer versions. The one-suit and two-suit versions come from computer Spider: the Windows version offers one, two and four suits.

If a word here is new

Other names you may hear

At a real card table, or in an older rule book, you will hear other words for some of these things. Our glossary explains them.

  • Spider: in Britain, card games for one player are called Patience, and Spider is a patience. The versions are often called Spider 1 Suit, Spider 2 Suits and Spider 4 Suits.
  • columns: card players call them the tableau.
  • draw pile: card players call it the stock.
  • the place full runs go: card players call it the foundations. The eight full runs are where the game's name comes from: eight, like a spider's legs.
  • a run of one suit: card players also call it a sequence, a suit sequence or a build.
  • an empty column: card players call it a space.
  • a hidden card: card players call it a downcard.
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