How to Play Solitaire: Setup, Rules & First Game (2026)

The short version: Shuffle one deck. Deal seven columns (1 card, 2 cards... up to 7 cards), top card face-up in each. Move cards between columns in descending rank, alternating colors. Send Aces and their suits to four foundation piles. Build all four foundations from Ace to King and you win. Most games take 5–15 minutes.

That is the whole game. Everything below is the detail that turns knowing the rules into actually winning.

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When most people say "solitaire," they mean Klondike. It shipped with Windows 3.0 in 1990, introduced hundreds of millions of people to patience gaming, and remains the definitive answer whenever anyone searches how to play solitaire. This guide teaches you Klondike from the ground up — setup, the four legal moves, a worked example turn, the six most common beginner mistakes, and five popular variants to explore when you are ready for something new.

How to Set Up Solitaire#

You need one standard 52-card deck (jokers removed) and enough table space to spread seven columns downward. No tokens, no second player, no timer.

Step 1. Shuffle thoroughly.

Step 2. Deal the tableau in a staircase pattern, left to right:

• Column 1: 1 card face-up
• Column 2: 1 card face-down, 1 face-up on top
• Column 3: 2 cards face-down, 1 face-up on top
• Column 4: 3 cards face-down, 1 face-up on top
• Column 5: 4 cards face-down, 1 face-up on top
• Column 6: 5 cards face-down, 1 face-up on top
• Column 7: 6 cards face-down, 1 face-up on top

When you finish, 28 cards sit in the tableau — 21 hidden, 7 face-up. The remaining 24 cards go face-down to the upper left as the stock pile. To its right, leave space for four empty foundation piles.

How many cards are in play at the start?#

All 52. The challenge is that 21 of them start hidden. Uncovering those face-down cards is the entire strategic puzzle of Klondike.

The Objective#

Move all 52 cards into the four foundation piles.

Each foundation holds one suit — spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs — built in ascending order from Ace to King. When all four foundations are complete (A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K in each suit), you win.

The Four Playing Areas#

Before learning the moves, understand the four zones of a Klondike layout.

Tableau — The seven columns where most of the action happens. You move cards here to uncover hidden ones and build sequences toward the foundations.

Stock pile — The face-down draw pile in the upper left. Your lifeline when the tableau stalls.

Waste pile — Cards drawn from the stock land here face-up. Only the top card is playable at any time.

Foundations — Four suit-sorted piles you build from Ace to King to win.

The Four Legal Moves#

You can make as many moves as you want in any order. There is no time limit, no turn limit — just you and the cards.

Move 1: Tableau to Tableau#

Move a face-up card from one tableau column onto another. The card you move must be exactly one rank lower and the opposite color of the destination card.

• Black 7 onto red 8 — legal
• Red Queen onto black King — legal
• Red 3 onto red 4 — illegal (same color)
• Red 3 onto black 5 — illegal (skips a rank)

You can move a sequence of face-up cards as a group. The bottom card of the sequence must still follow the same rank-and-color rule with its destination. A black 7 on a red 8 on a black 9 can all move together onto any red 10.

Move 2: Tableau to Foundation#

Move the top card of any tableau column to a foundation if it is the correct next card for that suit. The first card to any foundation must be an Ace. After that, add in order: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King.

Move 3: Draw from Stock#

Draw from the stock at any time.

• Draw-one: Flip one card at a time to the waste pile.
• Draw-three (more common): Flip three cards — only the top card is immediately playable.

When the stock runs out, flip the waste pile over to restart it (without reshuffling). In most rulesets you cycle through the stock three times before the game is officially stuck.

Draw-one vs draw-three: Draw-one lets you see every card in sequence and roughly doubles the win rate compared to draw-three. Draw-three is the traditional variant and what most digital versions default to. If you are just learning, start with draw-one.

Move 4: Place a King in an Empty Column#

When a tableau column empties, only a King (or a sequence headed by a King) may start a new column there. No other card can go into an empty column. This makes Kings uniquely valuable — and empty columns precious real estate worth thinking carefully before you fill.

Flipping Face-Down Cards#

Any time you move the last face-up card off a tableau column, the face-down card beneath it automatically flips and becomes available. This is the heart of Klondike strategy. Every hidden card revealed opens up moves that were invisible a moment earlier.

A Worked Example: Your First Few Moves#

Say the face-up cards in your seven columns are, left to right:

4♥ | 8♠ | 6♦ | J♣ | 3♠ | K♥ | 5♦

Move 1: 4♥ (red 4) onto the 5♦ is not possible — same color. But 4♥ onto 5♠ would be legal if you had one exposed. Nothing to do with the 4♥ yet.

Move 2: 8♠ (black 8) can go onto any red 9. You do not have one exposed, so skip.

Move 3: 6♦ (red 6) onto 7♠ or 7♣ (black 7). Check the waste pile — if you draw a black 7, you can place the 6♦ there. No match yet.

Move 4: J♣ (black Jack) onto the Q♥ or Q♦ if exposed. Not available yet.

Move 5: 3♠ (black 3) onto 4♥ — red 4 is one rank higher and opposite color. Legal move. Place the 3♠ on the 4♥ in column 1. The hidden card beneath the 3♠ in column 5 now flips up. You have uncovered a new card — this is the game.

Move 6: K♥ into an empty column. No columns are empty yet, so hold.

Move 7: Draw from stock. You get a 2♦. No immediate play. Draw again — a Q♣. The J♣ in column 4 goes onto the Q♣ in the waste pile. The face-down card beneath the J♣ flips. Another card uncovered.

This is how Klondike plays: each move is small, but each revealed card opens the next possibility. The game opens up as you uncover more of the tableau.

Common Beginner Mistakes#

Most losing games come from one of these six errors. Fixing them will raise your win rate faster than any other study.

Mistake 1: Leaving Aces in the Tableau#

Any time an Ace appears — anywhere — move it directly to the foundations. Aces have zero use in the tableau. This is the one rule you should never break.

Mistake 2: Building Foundations Unevenly#

If your spades foundation is at 8 but your hearts foundation is at 2, you risk blocking yourself. You may need a red 3 in the tableau but have nowhere useful to put it. Keep your four foundations within two or three ranks of each other. This is the single most common mistake I see new players make, and it turns winnable games into losses.

Mistake 3: Filling Empty Columns Carelessly#

An empty column is valuable real estate. Do not rush to fill it with the first King you see. Ask: does placing this King here lead toward a specific goal? Empty columns let you stage cards during complex rearrangements. In FreeCell, the equivalent concept is even more explicit — those four free cells are your entire margin for error.

Mistake 4: Ignoring Stock Order in Draw-Three#

In draw-three Klondike, the order of cards in the stock cycle matters. If the card you need is buried two cycles away, consider whether your tableau moves can wait. Experienced players think about stock management almost as much as tableau management.

Mistake 5: Moving to Foundations Instead of Uncovering Cards#

Many beginners focus only on sending cards to foundations. They ignore moves that simply uncover face-down cards. Uncovering a hidden card is almost always more valuable in the early game than advancing a foundation by one rank. The foundation will still be there next turn. That hidden card might unlock a cascade you cannot see yet.

Mistake 6: Moving Without Scanning First#

Survey all seven columns and the waste pile before each move. Klondike rewards players who pause before committing. Five seconds of scanning saves five minutes of regret.

Is every solitaire game winnable?#

No. Roughly 82% of Klondike deals are theoretically winnable with perfect play, meaning about 1 in 5 games is unwinnable no matter what you do. If you lose, it might genuinely not be your fault. FreeCell is far more forgiving — about 99% of deals are solvable. For a full breakdown of which games punish luck most, see our solitaire difficulty rankings.

Solitaire Strategy: Four Priorities#

You do not need advanced strategy to start winning. Apply these four priorities in order, and your win rate will climb quickly.

1. Move any Aces and Twos to foundations immediately. They cost nothing and free up tableau space.
2. Choose the tableau move that uncovers the most face-down cards. When two moves look equal, pick the one that reveals a hidden card.
3. Keep foundations roughly balanced. If one suit is racing ahead, hold off unless you must advance it.
4. Draw from stock only after exhausting useful tableau moves. The stock is a last resort, not a first instinct.

The biggest jump in win rate comes from priority two. New players chase foundations. Experienced players chase hidden cards. The foundations fill themselves once everything is face-up.

For deeper tactics — stock cycle management, the foundation trap, and suit-specific sequencing — read our solitaire strategy guide.

Can you move cards back from the foundation?#

In most digital versions, yes — the top card of a foundation can return to the tableau. This is legal and sometimes strategically correct. You might need a red 6 back to continue a sequence that unlocks two hidden cards. Traditional physical play follows the same rule, though some house variants forbid it. When in doubt, allow it — the game is hard enough already.

Five Variants to Try Next#

Klondike is one game in a rich family of solitaire variants. Here is a quick tour ordered roughly by how different each one feels from Klondike. For the full picture of how the families divide up, see our complete guide to solitaire types.

FreeCell#

FreeCell is the closest in spirit to Klondike, but with one major difference: all 52 cards are dealt face-up from the start. Nothing is hidden. Four "free cells" — temporary parking spots above the tableau — give you flexibility to maneuver.

Because you can see every card, FreeCell is nearly a pure logic puzzle. Approximately 99% of all deals are solvable with correct play. If you lose, the fault is almost certainly yours. That makes it both humbling and deeply satisfying when you crack a difficult position.

Spider#

Spider uses two full decks (104 cards) spread across ten tableau columns. The goal is to build complete King-to-Ace sequences of a single suit, which are automatically removed when complete.

Spider comes in three difficulty tiers: one-suit (very winnable), two-suit (a meaningful challenge), and four-suit (roughly 8% win rate even for experienced players). If you find Klondike too easy, four-suit Spider will humble you quickly.

Pyramid#

Pyramid solitaire is a matching game, not a building game. Twenty-eight cards form a triangle, and you remove exposed pairs whose ranks sum to thirteen — Queen and Ace, Jack and Two, Ten and Three, and so on. Kings remove alone.

The catch: upper-row cards are blocked by cards beneath them. Pyramid has a win rate of around 5%, making victories genuinely rare and satisfying. It also plays in about five minutes, making it a natural break game.

Golf#

Golf is the fastest game on this list, typically done in under five minutes. Thirty-five cards go into seven columns, and you clear the tableau by chaining a single sequence that runs up or down in rank regardless of suit: 7, 8, 9, 8, 7, 6 is a valid chain.

The game earns its name from its scoring: every card left uncleared is a stroke. The goal is the lowest score over multiple rounds.

Forty Thieves#

Forty Thieves uses two full decks and is significantly harder than Klondike — win rates sit around 10%. All 40 tableau cards start face-up across ten columns. You build foundations Ace-to-King by suit, but the tableau builds same-suit (not alternating color), and you can only move one card at a time. No free cells, no flexibility. Every move counts.

Easthaven#

Easthaven deals seven columns of three cards each, with only the bottom card face-up. It looks like a slimmer Klondike — until you realize there is no stock to draw from in the conventional sense. When the tableau stalls, you deal seven new cards across all columns at once, dropping a fresh layer onto whatever you have built. That single rule transforms how you sequence moves: if you stack a long descending run too aggressively, the next deal will bury it. If you keep columns short, the next deal gives you breathing room. Easthaven plays in 8–10 minutes and is a great bridge from Klondike to harder Klondike-family variants.

Variants Comparison Table#

What to Play Next#

If you have never played solitaire before, start with Klondike. The rules take about five minutes to learn, and most people win their first game within a session or two. The balance of luck and skill means you will not feel overwhelmed — but the game will not play itself either.

Once Klondike feels familiar, here is where to go based on what you want:

• More strategic depth with full information? Try FreeCell — same core feel, but all cards are visible and nearly every deal is solvable.
• A faster game for short breaks? Golf is hard to beat for a five-minute hit.
• A genuine challenge? Spider's four-suit variant will keep you busy for months.
• Something completely different? The pairing-based variant breaks the building-sequence mold entirely. Its matching mechanic and short play time make it an easy addition to your rotation.
• A harder two-deck game? Forty Thieves strips away every safety net Klondike gives you.

If you like alternating-color sequences but want a bigger challenge, Double Klondike doubles the deck and the tableau. For a stock-less twist where every card is visible from move one, try Russian Solitaire — same family as Klondike, but every face-down card is dealt face-up and you must build sequences down by suit, not alternating colors. And for something genuinely old-school, Canfield is the original casino solitaire — faster, meaner, and historically the game most people called "solitaire" before Windows changed everything. If you want the spider mechanic in a smaller, single-deck wrapper, Scorpion compresses Spider's same-suit-sequence-removal into seven columns and is a great gateway to Spider's bigger sibling.

Tracking Your Progress#

Improvement comes from two habits: playing more games, and reviewing games where you got stuck.

When a game ends in defeat, take thirty seconds to ask what move might have changed the outcome. You will not always find an answer — some deals are unwinnable. But when you do spot a missed move, that pattern sticks. Over time, your brain starts recognizing those positions automatically.

If your platform tracks win percentage, watch that number over time. Here is a rough benchmark:

• 20–40% win rate — casual player, typical for most people
• Above 60% win rate — experienced player with strong pattern recognition
• ~82% win rate — theoretical maximum with perfect play; genuine mastery

Every percentage point above 60% represents real skill development in a game that looks simple and rewards deep study. Welcome to solitaire.