How to play Spider Solitaire: winning strategy

Spider rewards patience. One suit is a gentle puzzle; two and four suits demand real planning. These ideas help at every level.

The rules

104 cards (two decks): 54 are dealt into ten columns, the rest wait in the deck. Build down by rank in any suit, but only runs of one suit move together. Complete a run from King to Ace in one suit and it’s removed. Deal ten more cards, one per column, when you’re stuck, as long as no column is empty. Clear all eight runs to win.

Build in suit when you can

A 7 of hearts on an 8 of hearts can move with it later. A 7 of hearts on an 8 of spades can’t. When you have a choice, always build in suit.

Turn over face-down cards

Every hidden card you reveal gives you new options. Prefer moves that uncover a card over moves that just shuffle cards around.

Empty a column

An empty column lets you untangle mixed runs: park part of a run there, rearrange, and rebuild in suit. Getting one early is the biggest step towards a win.

Deal at the right time

Make every useful move before dealing, because the new row covers all ten columns. But don’t wait forever: sometimes the new cards are exactly what you need.

Use undo to explore

With two or four suits, try a line of play, and if it goes nowhere, undo and try another.