First, the rules Suvi uses
| Game | Columns | An empty column takes |
|---|---|---|
| Klondike | 7 | A king only |
| Spider | 10 | Any card or run |
| Free Cell | 8, plus 4 cells | Any card or run |
- Klondike comes as draw one or draw three, each with its own daily deal. You can go through the stock as many times as you like, and you can bring a card back down from a foundation if you need it.
- Spider comes in one suit (all spades), two suits (spades and hearts, the default) or four. Any card can go on a card one rank higher, but only a run of one suit moves together. You can't deal a new row while any column is empty, and a finished king-to-ace run lifts off by itself.
- Free Cell shows every card from the start. Nothing comes back down from the foundations.
Undo is free while you play, in all three.
Klondike: the habits that win
- Turn face-down cards first. When two moves look equal, pick the one that turns a card over, and prefer the column with the most cards still hidden. The right-hand columns start with the most.
- Play from the table before the stock. A move between columns changes what you can do next; drawing only shows you the next card.
- Empty a column only with a king ready. On Suvi only a king can fill it, so a space with no king to hand is just a hole. If you have a choice of kings, pick the one whose color suits the queens you can see: a free red queen wants a black king.
- Don't rush cards up. Auto-play only sends a card to its foundation when it's safe: a red five goes up by itself once both black foundations have reached four. A card it leaves behind may still be needed as a place to build. If you sent one up too early, bring it back down.
Draw three. The stock comes round in the same order every time, so on your first pass simply note which cards you can reach. Playing one card from the waste shifts every group of three after it, which brings new cards to the top on the next pass. Sometimes the right move is to play a waste card just to change the order.
Spider: build in suit and guard your empty columns
Learn on one suit, then play the two-suit daily. Four suits is a long, careful game where undo is your friend.
- Build in suit whenever you can. A heart seven on a spade eight is legal, but it splits the column: the two can't move together, and you can't finish a run through that join.
- Empty columns are your most powerful tool. Use one to hold a card or a run for a move or two while you swap things round, then free it again.
- Tidy up before you deal. A deal drops a card on every column, covering whatever is there, so first turn over what you can and join as many same-suit runs as possible. Because you can't deal with a column empty, put the least useful card you have into each space just before the deal.
- Kings can only move into an empty column, so a king at the bottom of a column is welcome and one buried in the middle needs a plan.
A small example. Column A ends 8♠ 7♥, column B ends 7♠, and column C is empty:
- Move the 7♥ into column C.
- Move the 7♠ onto the 8♠: a spade run, and column B turns its next card.
- Move the 7♥ onto any spare 8 to free column C again.
Free Cell: plan before you park
Every card is face up, so the first minute is for looking. Find the four aces and the twos, and count what sits on top of each.
Each card you park in a cell costs you twice: the cell is gone, and you can move fewer cards at once. Suvi lets you move a run of (free cells + 1) × 2 for each empty column, not counting the column you're moving into.
| Free cells | No empty column | One | Two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 5 | 10 | 20 |
| 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
- An empty column is usually worth more than two free cells: it doubles what you can move, and it can hold a whole run, not just one card.
- Any card can go into an empty column, but don't spend one on a single card unless it unlocks something.
- Empty your cells as soon as a card has a home. Three full cells is the danger sign.
When you're stuck
Klondike and Free Cell dailies are checked winnable by our solver before they go live, so a stuck daily means an earlier choice went wrong. Undo back to the last real decision, usually which column to empty, which king to use or which card went to a cell, and try the other way. The Hint button flashes a good next move if you want a nudge. New deal gives you a practice deal; it doesn't touch your daily.
If you only remember three things
- Turn hidden cards before anything else.
- Empty columns are precious: in Klondike save them for a king, in Spider and Free Cell keep one free as long as you can.
- Undo is free, so use it to explore and not only to fix mistakes.
Try it on today's Klondike deal, then take the habits to Spider and Free Cell.
Questions
- Can every solitaire deal be won?
- Not every random deal. Suvi's Klondike and Free Cell dailies, and its one- and two-suit Spider dailies, are checked by our solver before they go live. Four-suit Spider deals are marked when a win has been found.
- Is draw one or draw three easier in Klondike?
- Draw one. Every stock card shows in turn on each pass, so you can always reach the card you need. In draw three only every third card is playable until you take some from the waste.
- Why won't Spider let me deal?
- You can't deal a new row while any column is empty. Put a card in every column first, ideally one you don't need right now.
- How many cards can I move at once in Free Cell?
- Free cells plus one, doubled for each empty column you aren't moving into. With all four cells free and no empty column, that's five.
Play it now
Solitaire is free on Suvi, on your phone or computer, no download. Also: Spider Solitaire · Free Cell Solitaire.