Spider Solitaire Online

| 08-03-2021
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Spider Solitaire Rules

Objective

Spider Solitaire is a solitaire game where the objective is to order all the cards in descending runs from King down to Ace in the same suit. Once a run has been completed, for example King of clubs down to Ace of clubs, then the whole run will be removed from the table. Once the table is completely empty the game has been won.

Play Klondike, Spider, Freecell, Pyramid, and TriPeaks. Plus, Daily Challenges. Solitaire remains the most played computer game of all time, and for good reason. Simple rules and straightforward gameplay makes it easy to pick up for everyone. As a variation to the original Solitaire, Spider Solitaire is a single player card game, with multiple variations, having grown very popular after its inclusion in Microsoft Windows.

Setup

Spider Solitaire is played with two full decks, 104 cards. At the beginning 54 of the cards are divided between 10 tableaus, the first 4 tableaus have 6 cards each, the other 6 tableaus have 5 cards each. The top card of each tableau is turned face up, the others are face down. The remaining 50 cards are placed in a stock at the top of the screen.

Valid moves

A card can always be moved onto a card that is one higher in rank. You can for example move a 7 of clubs and put it on an 8 of clubs, or an 8 of hearts, diamonds or spades. However, even though you can move cards onto other cards in a different suit, the objective of the game is to create runs in the same suit, so a run will only be removed from the table if it's all in the same suit, a full run in different suits doesn't do anything for you. (Although it can be useful to move cards onto other suits just to get them out of the way).

You can move multiple cards together if they are all part of a run in the same suit. E.g. if you have 8 of clubs, 7 of clubs, 6 of clubs, then you can click the 8 and move them all together onto a 9 of any suit. However if you have 8 of clubs, 7 of hearts, 6 of diamonds, then you can't move them all together, only the top card.

If a tableau is empty then any card or partial run is allowed to be moved onto it.

Spider Solitaire online, free

A full run does not have to be the only thing on a tableau to be removed. For example, a tableau might have three facedown cards and then a full run from King to Ace in the same suit and then the run would disappear, and the three facedown cards would remain.

Adding cards from the stock

When there are no more moves that can be made in the tableaus then you can click on the stock in the upper left corner. That will move 10 cards from the stock onto the tableaus, one card onto each tableau. Try not to do this until you are sure you have no other moves to make. It is required that there is at least one card in each tableau when the stock is clicked. If there is an empty tableau on the table you must first move one or more cards onto it before you can click on the stock.

Scoring

You start with 500 points. For each move you make one point gets subtracted. For each run you remove from the table you'll get a 100 extra points. Example: if you've managed to make three full runs in 70 moves you'll have 500-70+3*100 = 730 points.

Difficulty

The game can be played in three different modes, Spider 1 suit (beginner), Spider 2 suit (intermediate) and Spider 4 suit (advanced). In beginner mode there is only one suit (spades), in intermediate mode there are two (spades and hearts) and in advanced mode there are all four suits. There are the same number of cards, 104, in all modes.


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Spider Solitaire game info

The Original Spider Solitaire

Spider Solitaire is an immensely challenging free online solitaire game, that is assuming you elect to play with 4 suits! However thanks to its simple rules it easy quite easy to learn how to play even if it requires some serious thought to try and win a round.

Spider solitaire requires patience, logical thinking and luck. When playing spider solitaire on its most difficult setting, you will have to quit and restart many, many times. However when you do finally win, it's a great feeling!

  • Family: Spider Solitaire Games
  • Decks: Two decks (104 cards)
  • Game time: Long
  • Chance of winning: Low

Table of contents

Goal

The goal of this solitaire game is to remove 8 columns of cards at the bottom, each descending from King to Ace in a single suit. When a column like this is created it is automatically removed from the game freeing up space and opening up cards for you to continue.

Spider Solitaire online, free

Layout & deal

You will see at the start of the game that 10 columns are dealt at the top, with only the top card shown. You must rearrange the deal to uncover the cards underneath.

Allowable moves

The rules of spider solitaire are as follows. A single card can be moved onto a column if it is one lower than the card it is covering (e.g. A Queen of Hearts can cover any Red King or Black King). When trying to move a column of cards, they can only be moved if they are all in the same suit. For this reason wherever possible it is best to create descending columns of the same suit.

If a column is empty you can place anything on it. It is vitally important to use this well, as freeing up other options is exactly what this card game is about.

You can deal more cards to the layout by clicking the card located in the bottom right. These cards will cover all 8 columns, forcing you to rearrange them so you can reach any grouped columns you have created and arranged previously.

Strategy

  • Group cards before dealing: Before you deal any more cards, you should make the effort to group what you already have so they are in their suits wherever possible. This reduces the issue of cards getting stuck behind other cards and makes moving groups even easier in the future. This is probably the most important tip to winning more often.
  • Be careful with Kings: Another important thing you can think about while playing include if you want to move the King. Once a King is moved you will not be able to move it again and it will take up an otherwise free column. Of course sometimes you need to get to the cards behind the King so I can only advise care. It can be particularly annoying finding kings placed on important columns when dealing addition cards, so I often find it is best to wait until all cards are dealt before dealing with these.
  • Prefer playing from the smaller piles: Of course this tip probably goes without saying, but if possible move cards from columns with fewer cards on them. The idea being to free up a column to shuffle your cards around as soon as you can, which makes a it a lot easier to start grouping cards together in matching suits.

Scoring

You start with 500 points. Each move (or turning the stock) will cost you 1 point. When a full run is moved to the foundation you score 100 points.

Variants

Spider Solitaire Online Microsoft

The game featured on this page is the classic spider solitaire. Other famous implementations of spider solitaire are Crystal Spider Solitaire and Golden Spider Solitaire. Spiderette is the one deck version of Spider Solitaire. In Scorpion Solitaire you also have to create in-suit sequences from King to Ace in the tableau.

FAQ

How to set up Spider Solitaire?

Deal 10 columns, 6 cards to the first 4 piles, 5 cards to the last 6 piles. Only the top card in each pile is face-up. The rest of the cards go into the stock, in 5 groups of 10 cards each.

Spider Solitaire Online 2 Suits

How to win at Spider Solitaire?

Spider solitaire is notoriously hard to win, especially the 4 suits version. Make sure to group cards as much as possible before dealing extra cards. Be careful with placing Kings on empty columns, because they will block the column until it is removed by creating a full sequence. Try to create empty columns by playing from the smaller piles first.

How is Spider Solitaire scored?

Spider Solitaire Online 2 Suits

At the beginning you get 500 points. 1 point is reduced for each move. Creating a full sequence will earn you 100 points.

Spider Solitaire online, free Classic Cards

Spider

How to play Spider Solitaire with one deck?

Spider solitaire with one deck is called Spiderette. It follows the same rules as Spider Solitaire, except for the deal. In Spiderette, the tableau has seven piles which are dealt as in Klondike Solitaire: the first pile gets one card, the second pile two cards, and so on. All other rules are the same.