Solitaire, Klondike or Patience: same game
In the US, Solitaire almost always means Klondike, the game that came with Windows. In Britain it's often called Patience. Some Americans call it Canfield, though strictly that's a different, harder game. Other apps say turn 1 and turn 3 where we say draw 1 and draw 3.
How to set up Solitaire with a real deck
Shuffle a standard 52-card deck, jokers out. Deal seven columns from left to right: one card in the first, two in the second, up to seven in the last. Traditionally you deal in rows: a face-up card on the first column and face-down cards on the rest, then the same from the second column on.
That's 28 cards on the table, 21 of them face down. The other 24 go face down in a pile, the stock. Leave room above for four foundations, one per suit. The setup is the same whether you play by yourself at the kitchen table or here.
How to play Solitaire: the rules
- Goal: move all 52 cards to the four foundations, each built up in one suit from Ace to King.
- Columns: build down in alternating colors, so a red 9 goes on a black 10. You can move one card or any face-up run that's in order.
- Face-down cards turn face up as soon as they're uncovered.
- Empty columns take only a King, or a run that starts with one.
- Stock and waste: tap the stock to turn cards onto the waste pile. Only the top waste card can be played. When the stock runs out, turn the waste over and go again. Here there's no limit on passes.
- Foundations work both ways: you can bring a foundation's top card back down to a column if it helps.
Draw 1 vs draw 3: what really changes
In draw 1 you turn one card at a time, so every stock card is reachable on every pass. In draw 3 you turn three and can only play the top one. With 24 cards in the stock and nothing played from the waste, that's just 8 reachable cards, the 3rd, 6th, 9th and so on, and the next pass shows the same 8.
The way out is to play from the waste. Each card you take off shifts the cards behind it by one place, so after you turn the waste over, different cards land on top. Good draw 3 players count: before playing a waste card they ask how it changes the next pass, and sometimes they leave a playable card alone so a card they need stays in reach. Draw 3 was the Windows default and is clearly the harder game.
How time, moves and stats work here
There's no points score here, standard or Vegas. Each game is measured by time and moves, and every draw from the stock counts as a move. Statistics track games played, wins, win rate, streaks, best time and fewest moves, saved in this browser only. There's no account, so clearing your browser data erases them.
10 Solitaire strategy tips that actually work
- Turn over hidden cards first. The 21 face-down cards are the real puzzle. Prefer moves that uncover one, starting with the column that has the most face-down cards, since it takes longest to clear.
- Check the columns before the stock. A good order: foundation moves, moves that turn a card over, the waste card, then the stock. Hint looks in that order too.
- Don't empty a column without a King to fill it. Only a King can use the space, and the cards you moved to clear it may now cover something you need.
- Pick the right King. If a red and a black King could both take an open column, look at what follows. A black King wants a red Queen, then a black Jack. Choose the King whose next cards are free.
- Don't rush cards to the foundations. Aces and twos can go up at once. A higher card may still be needed to hold a lower card of the other color, so send it up when both opposite-color cards one rank lower are already there. That's the rule auto-move uses.
- Use the foundations as a step. A black 6 on its foundation can come back down to hold a red 5 when you need a spot for it.
- Make moves that do something. Shifting a run from one black 8 to the other goes nowhere unless it uncovers a card or opens a column.
- In draw 1, learn the stock early. With unlimited passes, a look through it costs only time and moves and shows you which column to work on.
- In draw 3, count before you play from the waste. If a card you need never comes up, playing a waste card earlier in the pass shifts it into reach.
- Replay the deals you lose. Every deal has a number, and playing the same cards again is the fastest way to see where the game turned.
How many Solitaire games can be won?
Nobody knows exactly for Klondike as you play it, with cards hidden. What has been measured is the version where every card is visible, called thoughtful solitaire: work by Charlie Blake and Ian Gent at the University of St Andrews puts it at about 90% of draw 1 deals and 82% of draw 3 deals, with unlimited passes.
Real play lands lower, because you choose before you see the cards that decide things, so treat those figures as a ceiling. The Daily Challenge removes the doubt: every Klondike daily deal is checked by a solver to be winnable.
Where Klondike comes from
The earliest known printed rules are in a 1907 Hoyle's Games, as Seven-Card Klondike. The name is often linked to the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s, but nobody has shown that's where it came from. The big break came in 1990, when Microsoft shipped Solitaire with Windows 3.0, partly to get people used to dragging things with a mouse.
Why play Solitaire here
- Free in your browser on phones, tablets and computers. No download, no sign-up.
- Unlimited Undo, a Hint whenever you want one, and unlimited passes through the stock.
- Drag and drop, or tap a card and it jumps to the best legal spot.
- Safe cards go to the foundations by themselves (you can switch that off in Settings), and Finish completes a game once it's decided.
- Numbered deals you can replay, pick by number or share with a link.
- A free Daily Challenge with a verified leaderboard, plus Spider and FreeCell.
- Table colors including classic green felt, card backs, light or dark mode, and keyboard shortcuts on desktop.