How to Play Spider Solitaire

Spider Solitaire is a challenging patience game played with two full decks (104 cards). The goal is to build eight complete King-to-Ace sequences of the same suit. It is one of the most popular solitaire variants, with three difficulty levels based on the number of suits used. Spider first appeared in a 1949 book of card games and became widely popular when Microsoft included it in Windows ME in 2000.

Game Setup

1. 1Shuffle two standard 52-card decks together (104 cards total).
2. 2Deal 54 cards across ten tableau columns: the first four columns get 6 cards each, the remaining six columns get 5 cards each.
3. 3Turn the top card of each column face-up. All other cards remain face-down.
4. 4Place the remaining 50 cards face-down as the stock pile (5 deals of 10 cards each).
5. 5For difficulty, choose 1 suit (all Spades), 2 suits (Hearts and Spades), or 4 suits.

Complete Rules

1. 1Build tableau columns in descending order (regardless of suit for placing, but only same-suit sequences can be moved as a group).
2. 2You can place any card on top of a card that is one rank higher.
3. 3Only a same-suit descending sequence can be moved as a group (e.g., 8-7-6-5 of Spades).
4. 4A complete same-suit sequence from King down to Ace is automatically removed from the board.
5. 5Any card or valid sequence can be placed on an empty column.
6. 6Deal 10 new cards from the stock (one per column) when no more moves are desired — but all columns must have at least one card before dealing.
7. 7Win by removing all eight King-to-Ace same-suit sequences.
8. 8In one-suit mode, all cards are Spades, making every sequence same-suit by default.
9. 9In two-suit mode, cards are Hearts and Spades, adding moderate complexity.
10. 10In four-suit mode, all four suits are used, making same-suit sequences much harder to build.
11. 11Scoring starts at 500 points, with -1 per move and +100 for each completed sequence.
12. 12The game ends when all eight sequences are completed or no valid moves remain.

Strategy Tips

• Focus on building same-suit sequences whenever possible. Mixed-suit columns become dead weight.
• Try to empty a column to create workspace — empty columns are extremely valuable in Spider.
• Do not deal new cards from the stock until you have exhausted all useful moves on the tableau.
• Prioritize uncovering face-down cards, especially in columns with many hidden cards.
• In four-suit Spider, plan several moves ahead. Every move matters.
• Build long same-suit runs even if it means temporarily covering useful cards.
• Use empty columns as temporary storage to rearrange cards and create same-suit sequences.
• Before dealing from the stock, try to have at least one empty column — it makes the deal much easier to manage.
• In two-suit mode, try to keep red and black cards separated into different columns when possible.
• Start by identifying which columns have the fewest face-down cards and work on those first.

Advanced Strategy

• The "stock counting" technique: since there are 5 deals of 10 cards, you can estimate when certain ranks will appear and plan accordingly.
• Create "staging columns" dedicated to building same-suit runs. Let mixed-suit columns serve as temporary holding areas.
• When you have multiple empty columns, use them in combination for complex rearrangements — one empty column lets you move 1 extra card, two let you move 3.
• In four-suit, prioritize building complete sequences over uncovering cards. A partial same-suit run of K-Q-J-10 is incredibly valuable.
• Watch for "dead columns" — columns where mixed suits make it impossible to ever create a same-suit sequence. Plan to dismantle these early.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Articles

More Solitaire Guides