Solitaire (Klondike)

1 Game Overview

Klondike Solitaire is the most played card game in history - it's the one on every Windows PC. The goal is to move all 52 cards to four Foundation piles, sorted by suit from Ace to King. You'll rearrange the Tableau using alternating colors while drawing from the Stock pile.

Not every deal is winnable - roughly 80% can be solved with perfect play, but most people win 30-50% of the time.

2 What You Need

• 1 standard deck of 52 cards
• Enough table space for 7 columns and 4 foundation piles

3 Setup

1. Deal 7 columns (the Tableau): column 1 gets 1 card, column 2 gets 2 cards, column 3 gets 3 cards, and so on through column 7 (7 cards). Only the top card of each column is face-up. The rest are face-down.
2. Place remaining 24 cards face-down as the Stock (draw pile) in the upper left.
3. Leave 4 empty spaces for the Foundations in the upper right.

4 How to Play

On each turn, you can make any combination of these moves:

Tableau Moves

Move face-up cards between columns. A card (or stack of face-up cards) can be placed on a card that is one rank higher and the opposite color. Example: black 7 on red 8.

When a face-down card is exposed (all face-up cards above it are moved), flip it face-up.

A King (or a stack starting with a King) can be moved to any empty column.

Foundation Moves

Move cards to the Foundations. Each Foundation must start with an Ace, then build up in suit order: A, 2, 3... Q, K. You can move any card from the Tableau or Waste pile to the correct Foundation.

Drawing from Stock

When you have no more moves, draw from the Stock. Draw 1 card at a time (beginner) or 3 cards at a time (standard). Drawn cards go face-up to the Waste pile; only the top Waste card is playable.

When the Stock is empty, flip the Waste pile over to form a new Stock. You can cycle through the stock as many times as needed (or limit to 3 passes through for a challenge).

5 Winning

You win by moving all 52 cards to the four Foundations, sorted by suit from Ace to King. If you run out of moves and can't complete the foundations, the game is stuck (lost).

6 Tips

• Expose face-down cards first. Every face-down card is potential. Prioritize moves that flip hidden cards.
• Empty a column early. An empty column is a staging area. It can hold any King and his entourage.
• Don't rush Aces to foundations. Sometimes keeping an Ace or 2 in the tableau helps move other cards around.
• Move Kings that have Queens available. Moving a King to an empty column is only useful if you have a Queen of the opposite color ready to build on it.
• Draw 1 variant: Use draw-1 when learning - it gives you more control. Draw-3 is the traditional casino version with more challenge.