Spider Solitaire is a one-player card game where you arrange 104 cards into descending runs, then remove each complete King-to-Ace run from the board. The game is won when all eight runs have been cleared.
The name sounds a little grander than the rules. Spider is mostly a game about space. You start with 10 columns, some face-up cards, many face-down cards, and a stock of undealt cards. Each turn is about making the next useful move: place a lower card on a higher card, shift an ordered run, expose hidden cards, or make an empty column that gives you room to work.
Single-suit Spider Solitaire is the cleanest way to learn how to play Spider Solitaire because every card belongs to the same suit. That removes the main complication found in Spider Solitaire (2 Suits) and Spider Solitaire (4 Suits): mixed-suit runs can be built, but only same-suit runs can be cleared. In one suit, the shape of the game is easier to see. You build down, uncover cards, use the stock when you must, and aim to assemble eight full King-to-Ace runs.
What is Spider Solitaire, exactly?
Spider Solitaire is a solitaire game for one player, played with two standard 52-card decks. That makes 104 cards in total. The usual Spider board has 10 tableau columns and a stock pile, rather than the seven-column tableau used in Klondike Solitaire (Turn 1) or Klondike Solitaire (Turn 3).
The aim is not to move cards onto four foundation piles one card at a time. Spider works in full runs. A finished run is King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace in the same suit. When that complete run exists in one column, it is removed from play. Clear all eight runs and the game is won.
The rank order is fixed. Kings are high, Aces are low. You build downward on the tableau: a 9 may go on a 10, a 4 may go on a 5, and so on. In one-suit Spider, all cards are treated as the same suit, so the main question is whether the ranks are in the right order. That is why Spider Solitaire (1 Suit) is the approachable version. The rules are still Spider rules, but the suit-management problem is stripped away.
In a first game, count useful spaces before hunting for clever tricks. The board will usually reward the move that uncovers a card or keeps a column free.
How do you set up the 10 columns and the stock?
The spider solitaire setup uses all 104 cards. The tableau takes 54 cards at the start, arranged across 10 columns. The remaining 50 cards form the stock. Those stock cards are not played one by one; they are dealt in five rounds of 10 cards, one new face-up card onto each column.
- Columns 1 to 4: each starts with 6 cards.
- Columns 5 to 10: each starts with 5 cards.
- Face-up cards: only the top card of each column starts face up.
- Face-down cards: every card below the top card starts face down.
- Stock: 50 cards remain, enough for 5 full deals of 10 cards.
This means the first board always shows 10 playable cards, one at the top of each column. The rest of the tableau is hidden until you move cards away from it. Whenever a face-down card becomes the top card of its column, it is turned face up.
The stock matters because it changes every column at once. A stock deal places one card on each of the 10 columns, which can create useful links or bury the card you were about to use. In most computer versions of Spider, including the standard rule set players expect, you may not deal from the stock while any tableau column is empty. Fill the empty space first, then deal.
What counts as a legal move on your turn?
- Move one face-up card onto the next higher rank. A 7 can move onto an 8. A Queen can move onto a King. Suits do not complicate this in Spider Solitaire (1 Suit), because the game uses one suit.
- Move a packed descending run as a group. If you have 9, 8, 7 in order, and the cards are face up and properly connected, you may move that run together onto a 10. In multi-suit Spider, the movable run must be in the same suit. In one suit, that condition is already satisfied.
- Put any card or legal run into an empty column. Empty columns are valuable because they let you park a card temporarily, shift long runs, and reach face-down cards. They are often the difference between a locked board and a useful sequence of moves.
- Turn over a newly exposed face-down card. This happens automatically in most digital games. If you clear the top cards from a column and reveal a hidden card, that card becomes face up and enters play.
- Deal from the stock when you need new cards. A stock deal adds one face-up card to every column. You cannot choose the column, and you cannot deal a single card. Under the common Spider rule, all 10 columns must contain at least one card before the deal is allowed.
- Stop when there is no useful legal play. If the stock is empty and no legal move can improve the board, the game is stuck. You may still see legal shuffles of cards in some positions, but they do not matter if they cannot uncover, connect, or clear anything.
How do you clear a suit and actually win?
A suit is cleared when one column contains a complete descending run from King down to Ace in the same suit. In Spider Solitaire (1 Suit), that means King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace in order. Once the run is complete, it is removed from the tableau.
You do not move the run to a foundation card by card. Spider removes the whole 13-card run as a unit. That is the main rhythm of the game: build partial runs, expose hidden cards, create space, join the partial runs, then clear a finished one.
There are 104 cards in the game, and each cleared run contains 13 cards, so a full game requires 8 cleared runs. The game is won when all 8 runs have been removed and no cards remain in the tableau or stock.
The game can also become unwinnable in practice. If the stock has run out and the tableau has no legal move that can expose a card, create a useful empty column, or connect ranks into a clearing run, you are stuck. Spider is not like FreeCell, where all information is open from the start. Hidden cards mean you sometimes discover too late that earlier choices trapped the board.
What does the score mean, and why keep playing after one win?
- The win condition is separate from the score. You win Spider Solitaire by clearing all 104 cards in 8 complete King-to-Ace runs. A score can be useful, but it is not what decides whether the game is won.
- The common computer scoring system starts at 500. In that system, each move subtracts 1 point, and each completed 13-card run adds 100 points. Different sites can display score, moves, time, or some mix of those, because scoring is a computer convention rather than an old table rule.
- A lower move count usually means a cleaner game. It shows you exposed hidden cards, managed empty columns, and avoided unnecessary rearranging. It does not prove the deal was harder or easier.
- Time measures fluency as well as skill. A fast win often means you recognised standard patterns quickly: build down, open a column, avoid dealing too early, and keep long runs together when possible.
- One-suit wins teach habits that carry upward. After you can win Spider Solitaire (1 Suit) regularly, Spider Solitaire (2 Suits) asks you to think about suit order as well as rank order. Spider Solitaire (4 Suits) is the full test.
- The reason to replay is that the opening shape changes. The rules stay fixed, but the hidden cards make each deal a new problem. The interesting question is rarely whether a 6 goes on a 7. It is which 6 you should move.
Frequently asked questions
No. A stack only moves as one piece when its cards run down in rank and are all the same suit. You may still build a mixed column one card at a time, such as placing a red 8 on a black 9 in a multi-suit game, but that mixed block will not travel together.
104 cards are used: two standard packs without jokers. The tableau has ten columns, and the remaining cards sit in the stock for later deals. That is why Spider feels larger than Klondike Solitaire (Turn 1) or FreeCell. You are managing a board, not just a small discard pile.
The common misconception is that Spider Solitaire (1 Suit) has no suits at all. The correction is simpler: every card behaves as the same suit, so any properly descending run can be moved as a unit and cleared when it reaches King down to Ace. That is why it is the easiest Spider version to learn.
A column shows 9 of spades, 8 of hearts, 7 of hearts. It looks tidy because the ranks descend, but the whole run cannot move together in a multi-suit game because the suits do not match from top to bottom. You could move the 8 and 7 together if they match, but not the 9 with them.
It depends on how many safe moves remain. If you can uncover a face-down card without burying a useful sequence, do that first. If the board is cramped, an empty column is often worth more because it lets you park a King, split a column, or rearrange a run that would otherwise be stuck.
Compared with Spider Solitaire (2 Suits), Spider Solitaire (1 Suit) removes the main source of friction: suit clashes inside descending runs. You still need to plan empty columns and stock deals, but almost every descending sequence can move. Spider Solitaire (4 Suits) is the demanding version, because many tidy-looking runs are trapped by suit changes.
The short rule: any exposed card, or any legal same-suit descending run, can go into an empty column. The exception is a messy partial stack. If a pile contains mixed suits or broken order, you cannot lift the whole thing just because the destination is empty. You may only move the movable top part.
Most people deal too early. A stock deal adds one card to every column, which can cover good work and block exposed cards you were about to use. Before dealing, make every useful move you can, clear any full King-to-Ace run, and use empty columns while they still exist. The stock is a reset, not a reward.
A packed sequence is a group of face-up cards in exact descending order and the same suit, such as Queen, Jack, 10, 9 of one suit. Packed sequences matter because they move as a single block. In Spider Solitaire (1 Suit), almost every descending sequence is packed, which makes the rules easier to see.
Look for moves that uncover face-down cards, then make the longest descending runs you can without filling every useful space. Keep at least one empty column when possible. Use it to shift Kings and break apart clogged columns. Do not rush the stock while you still have hidden cards you can uncover by ordinary moves.
Nobody knows precisely, because a deal can be theoretically winnable yet still lost through normal choices. The best available figure is your own win rate over a fixed variant: play 100 games of Spider Solitaire (1 Suit), count wins, and compare only with the same rules. Mixing 1 Suit, 2 Suits and 4 Suits makes the number meaningless.
Microsoft shipped Spider Solitaire with Windows releases, including Windows ME and Windows XP, and that put it in front of millions of office and home players. The older card game existed before that, but the PC version made its ten-column rhythm familiar: build, uncover, make space, then survive the next stock deal.
The cost of a bad move is usually space, not points. If you bury a low card under the wrong King, fill your only empty column, or deal before clearing a run, you may lose several future moves at once. Spider punishes blocked columns because every later card has to land somewhere.
Final thoughts
The rule that matters most is not printed on the table: do not spend your empty columns cheaply. A blank column is the strongest tool in Spider because it lets you move a blocking card out of the way, turn over a hidden card, then put the moved card somewhere more useful. Once every column is filled again, the board gets heavier.
For a first few games, play slowly enough to ask one question before each move: what will this uncover? Moving a 5 onto a 6 is legal, but legal is a low bar. A better move turns over a face-down card, joins two runs that can later be cleared, or preserves a space for a larger rearrangement. Dealing from the stock is often necessary, but it is rarely neutral. Ten new cards arrive at once, and they land on every column, including the neat ones.
Spider Solitaire (1 Suit) is worth playing because it makes order feel earned. The rules are small enough to hold in your head, yet the board keeps producing awkward choices. You can win a deal without understanding every hidden possibility. You cannot win many deals without learning patience, timing, and the value of one empty column.
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