How to Play Klondike Solitaire
Seven columns, a stock, and four foundations from the aces up.
Also known as Solitaire · Patience · Klondike
Learn Klondike Solitaire: 7 columns, a stock turned 1 or 3 at a time, unlimited passes, building down in alternating colors and kings in empty columns. Follow one position, then play in your browser.
Freeing a face-down card with the waste's help
Column 4 ends in the 8♥ with 2 face-down cards under it, column 6 ends in the 9♣, and the waste shows the 7♠. Tap the 8♥, then column 6: the red 8 goes on the black 9 and the card beneath turns up. It is the A♠: tap it and it goes straight to its foundation. Now the 7♠ from the waste goes on the 8♥, and when the K♦ turns up later it is the only card that can take the column you emptied.
| Move | Allowed? |
|---|---|
| 8♥ onto the 9♣ | Yes: one rank lower, the other color |
| 7♠ from the waste onto the 8♥ | Yes: the waste's top card plays to a column or a foundation |
| A♠ tapped | Yes: it goes straight to its foundation |
| 9♣ into an empty column | No: only a king, or a run headed by one |
| 2♠ back from its foundation onto a red 3 | No: a card never leaves a foundation |
With Draw 3 the stock turns 3 cards at a time and only the top of the waste is playable; either way the waste turns over into a new stock as often as you like. Undo takes moves back as often as you like, and the score is the cards on the foundations.
Practise this game in your browser🎯 Objective
Move all 52 cards onto the four foundations, one per suit, built up from the ace to the king. If you don't finish, your score is the number of cards on the foundations.
🃏 Klondike Solitaire Setup & Rules
- One standard 52-card deck, no jokers. It is a solitaire for one: there are no other seats and no app opponents.
- The only setup option is Draw: 1 card turned from the stock at a time (the default) or 3. Either way you may turn the waste over into a new stock as often as you like.
- The app deals 7 columns of 1 to 7 cards, 28 in all, with only the top card of each face up, and puts the other 24 face down as the stock. Above the columns sit the waste pile and the 4 foundations: clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades.
▶ How to Play Klondike Solitaire
- Tap the card you want to move, then the column or foundation it goes to. A tapped card that fits its foundation goes there at once; a tap on the stock turns its cards.
- In the columns, build down in alternating colors: a red 6 goes on a black 7. Only a king, or a run headed by a king, goes into an empty column.
- Any part of a column's face-up run may move at once, and the card uncovered beneath it turns face up.
- The stock turns onto the waste 1 card at a time, or 3 with Draw 3, and only the top card of the waste can be played, to a column or a foundation. When the stock is empty, tap it to turn the waste over, unshuffled, into a new stock; there is no limit on passes.
- Foundations build up in suit from the ace to the king. Once a card is on a foundation it never comes back.
- Auto makes the move the app's own policy would make, Undo takes back the last move as often as you like, and Give up ends the deal as a loss.
🎬 Watch: How to Play Klondike Solitaire
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📖 Detailed Guide
Setting up your table
- From the game menu choose Klondike. It is a solitaire for one, so there are no other seats to fill and no app opponents.
- The one setup option is Draw: 1 card turned from the stock at a time, the default, or 3. There is no deal number, no timer and no scoring variant.
- The app shuffles one 52-card deck and deals 7 columns of 1 to 7 cards, 28 in all, with only the top card of each face up.
- The other 24 cards are the stock, face down, with the waste pile beside it; the 4 foundations across the top take clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades.
Moving cards
- Tap a card, then tap where it goes. Tap it again to put it back, or tap another card to pick that one instead. A card that cannot move, a face-down one included, is refused with the reason.
- A tapped card that fits its foundation goes there at once: an ace onto an empty foundation, or the next card up in the same suit.
- In the columns a card goes on one that is one rank higher and the other color. Any part of a column's face-up run may move at once, and the card beneath turns up.
- Only a king, or a run headed by a king, goes into an empty column. The one such move the app refuses is lifting a whole column into an empty one, because it changes nothing.
The stock and the waste
- Tap the stock to turn its cards onto the waste: 1 at a time, or 3 with Draw 3, the last card turned on top. Only the top card of the waste is playable.
- The waste's top card can go to a column or to its foundation, one card at a time. Playing it brings the card beneath into play.
- When the stock is empty, tap it to turn the waste over, unshuffled, into a new stock. The app allows as many passes as you like with either Draw setting.
- With fewer than 3 cards left in the stock, Draw 3 turns what is there.
Ending the deal
- You win when all 52 cards are on the 4 foundations; the summary shows how many moves it took and offers Play again with the same Draw setting.
- Turning the stock is a move, so the deal is lost outright only when no move at all is left. A deal that only goes round in circles is one you give up.
- Auto plays one move of the app's own policy each time you tap it. If it finds no way on, it concedes the deal rather than cycle the stock for ever.
- Undo takes back the last move, as many times as you like, and Give up ends the deal as a loss. Either way your score is the number of cards on the foundations.
📊 Klondike Solitaire Scoring
You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations, and the summary counts your moves. Your score is the number of cards on the foundations. Turning the stock is a move, so the deal is lost outright only when no move at all is left; a deal that merely goes round in circles is one you give up, or Auto concedes when it finds no way on. There are no points, no timer and no Vegas scoring, and the app deals a fresh random layout each time; there is no deal number to enter.
❓ Klondike Solitaire — Frequently Asked Questions
How many players do you need for Klondike Solitaire?
Klondike Solitaire is a solitaire game for one player — just you and the deck.
Is Klondike draw 1 or draw 3 in the app?
Both: the Draw option on the setup screen is 1 by default or 3. With Draw 3 the stock turns 3 cards at a time, the last one on top, and only the top card of the waste is playable. Play again keeps the setting you chose.
How many times can you go through the stock in Klondike?
As often as you like, with Draw 1 or Draw 3. When the stock is empty, tap it to turn the waste over, unshuffled, into a new stock. Turning the stock counts as a move, so a deal that only goes round in circles is one you give up rather than one the app ends.
What can go into an empty column in Klondike?
Only a king, or a run of face-up cards headed by a king, from another column or from the waste. Not a whole column, though: the app refuses to lift a complete column into an empty one, because it changes nothing.
What ends a Klondike deal?
Winning, when all 52 cards are on the 4 foundations, or losing: when no move at all is left, when you tap Give up, or when Auto finds no way on and concedes. Either way your score is the number of cards on the foundations, and a win also counts your moves. A card never comes back off a foundation; Undo is the only way back.