Spider Solitaire

Rules and how to play

The game uses 104 cards from 2 decks without jokers. The cards go in 10 tableau columns, the stock, and 8 foundations. At the start, 54 cards are dealt to the tableau: 6 cards to each of the 4 columns on the left and 5 cards to each of the 6 columns on the right. Only the top card of each column is face up, and the cards under it are face down. The remaining 50 cards form the stock.^[1][12][14]

In the tableau, you can place a card on the top card of a column if it is 1 lower, regardless of suit. For example, you can place a 7 of any suit on the 8 of spades. A king cannot be placed on an ace.^[1][3]

A run of one suit at the top of a column, with each card 1 lower than the card it sits on, can be moved together as a single move, however many cards it has. You can also move just part of a run, from a card in the middle of it up to the top card. If a card of a different suit is in between, the cards cannot be moved together.^[1][3][12]

Any card or any run can be placed in a column that has no cards left. When a column has no face-up cards left but still has face-down cards, the top face-down card turns face up automatically.^[1][3]

When a full run of 13 cards of one suit, from king to ace, is lined up face up at the top of a column, those 13 cards are removed automatically and move to a foundation. Cards on the foundations cannot be moved again. You clear the game when all 8 full runs have been removed.^[1][12]

On this page, the game is not counted as a loss automatically when you run out of moves. You can go back with “Undo move” and try a different move, or end the game with “Give up”.

Number of suits and difficulty

Every option uses 104 cards, and only the number of suits differs. With 1 suit, all 104 cards are spades; with 2 suits, there are 52 spades and 52 hearts; and with 4 suits, there are 26 cards of each of the 4 suits.^[12][14]

Only a run of one suit can be moved together, so the fewer the suits, the easier it is to build long runs and the easier the game. With 1 suit, you can place cards by looking only at their ranks. With 4 suits, a run is broken each time you place a card on a card of a different suit, which makes the game harder.

Other programs sometimes call 1 suit Beginner, 2 suits Intermediate, and 4 suits Advanced. For the same deal number, changing the number of suits keeps the order of the ranks the same and changes only the suits.

Dealing from the stock

The cards in the stock are dealt in 5 rows of 10 cards. When you deal from the stock, 1 face-up card is placed on each of the 10 tableau columns. Dealing counts as 1 move.^[1][12]

You cannot deal from the stock while a column is empty. A rule book published in 1949 also says that all empty columns must be filled before dealing, and many programs follow the same rule. Move cards into the empty columns first, then deal.^[1][3][10]

However, on this page, when fewer than 10 cards are left on the tableau (counting face-down cards), you can deal even with an empty column. With fewer than 10 cards, you cannot fill all 10 columns, so without this exception you would be unable to deal the cards left in the stock. This position can arise on this page because a full run of 13 cards is removed automatically. In the rule book published in 1949, the player decides whether to remove a full run. By leaving the 13 cards in the tableau, the player can still fill the empty columns, so the book’s rules have no such exception.^[1]

Winnable deals and the daily challenge

Each deal (the starting order of the cards) is set by a number from 0 to 4,294,967,295. This numbering is unique to this page, so the same number in other programs does not give the same deal. “Random deal” picks a number at random, without checking whether the deal can be won.

“Winnable deal” picks from deals for which the operator found a winning sequence with the solver (a program) on this page, with all the cards visible to it. When the operator checked deals no. 1 to 4,000, the solver found a sequence for 3,999 deals with 1 suit, 3,982 deals with 2 suits, and 3,544 deals with 4 suits. The solver has a limit (1,000,000) on the number of positions it examines, so a deal for which it found no sequence is not necessarily unwinnable.

The chance of winning depends greatly on whether you know the face-down cards. The rule book published in 1949 says that when the game is played with 2 ordinary decks as they are (4 suits on this page) and the face-down cards stay hidden, you win about 1 game in 3. With all the cards visible, a study that checked 32,000 deals with 4 suits found a winning sequence for 31,998 of them (the other 2 remain undecided).^[1][5]

“Daily challenge” is a deal set for each date in Japan time and each number of suits, and everyone who plays that day with the same number of suits gets the same deal. The daily challenge is chosen from the winnable deals. When you clear it, the page shows how many people tried it that day, the share who cleared it, and where you rank by moves and by time.

Controls on this page

In the menu, set “Suits” (“1 suit”, “2 suits”, or “4 suits”) and “Deal” (“Daily challenge”, “Winnable deal”, or “Random deal”), then press “Deal and start”. The defaults are “1 suit” and “Winnable deal”.

To move a card, drag it to the column where you want to put it, or press it to highlight it and then press the column where you want to put it. Pressing a card in the middle of a run of one suit moves that card and all the cards on top of it together. Pressing a card underneath the run selects the longest run in that column that can be moved together. Pressing a highlighted card again (double-clicking it) moves it to the first place it can go, in this order: onto a card 1 higher of the same suit, onto a card 1 higher of a different suit, or into an empty column.

Press the stock to deal 1 card to each of the 10 columns. When you cannot deal because a column is empty, the reason is shown on the table. When fewer than 10 cards are left on the tableau, you can deal even with an empty column.

“Undo move” can take back as many moves as you like. It also takes back dealing from the stock and the removal of a full run of 13 cards. Because you can see the dealt cards and then take the move back, the result also shows how many times you used “Undo move”.

Press “Hint” (to the right of the 3D view, or below it on narrow screens) to search for a winning sequence from the current position. The first move appears as text below “Hint”, and the card to move is highlighted on the table. The search has a limit on the number of positions it examines, and when it finds no sequence within that limit, the page shows “No winning sequence was found from this position” along with a suggested move (this does not mean that there is no winning sequence). For deals confirmed to be winnable (those chosen by “Winnable deal” and “Daily challenge”, and a deal sent by URL if its number is one of them), the page shows “This deal is confirmed to be winnable, but the hint search didn’t find a winning sequence within its limit” instead.

Below “Hint”, there is a “Deal from the stock” button and buttons for the moves you can make now. The move buttons are grouped by the column the cards move from, and pressing one makes that move. Moves that split a run and move only part of it can also be chosen here. With these buttons, you can play even on devices that cannot show the 3D view, or with only a keyboard.

When you clear a deal, the page shows your moves and time, how many times you used “Undo move”, and the records on this device (win rate, winning streak, fastest time, and fewest moves). Moving a run at once and dealing from the stock each count as 1 move, and cards that are removed or turned face up automatically are not counted. For the daily challenge, the page also shows how many people tried it that day, the share who cleared it, and where you rank by moves and by time. Send the link in the result card, and the person who opens it can play the same deal.

Strategy tips

• Move cards off the columns with the most face-down cards first. When face-down cards are turned face up, you have more cards you can move.
• Place a card on a card of a different suit only when you have no other move. When you do, the run is broken there, and you cannot move cards together across that break.
• Do not fill an empty column right away. With an empty column, you can split runs and rearrange them. However, you need to fill the empty columns before you deal from the stock (except when fewer than 10 cards are left on the tableau).
• Before you deal from the stock, try every move you can make. Dealing places 1 card on every column, which can break runs.
• A king cannot be placed on any other card, so it can only be moved to an empty column. Building a run of one suit down from a king in an empty column makes it easier to complete a full run of 13 cards.

Origin and history of Spider Solitaire

It is not known who invented Spider Solitaire or when. The earliest book confirmed to describe its rules is “The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience Games” by Albert H. Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith, published in the United States in 1949. The rules in this book use 2 ordinary decks as they are (4 suits on this page). The book gives the chance of winning as 1 game in 3 and the time needed to play once as 20 minutes.^[1][12]

In its preface, the same book quotes a passage from a 1930 travel book by the British writer W. Somerset Maugham: “I tried the Spider and never by any chance got it out”. The travel book does not describe the rules, so it is not known whether this was the same game as today’s Spider Solitaire.^[1][2]

One of the early computer versions was made by Don Woods on the system of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and a Sun Microsystems version was released in 1989. In June 1998, Microsoft added Spider Solitaire to Plus! 98, an add-on pack for Windows 98, and from Windows Me in 2000, it came as standard with Windows.^[4][6][7]

Spider Solitaire also came with Windows XP, and in Microsoft’s 2005 figures on home use, it overtook Klondike to become the most played game. In the Windows version, you chose the difficulty by the number of suits used (1, 2, or 4). In the Japanese version of Windows, the name was written in katakana without the long vowel mark at the end up to Windows Vista, and with it from Windows 7 on. In Windows 8, it no longer came as standard and became one of the games in Microsoft Solitaire Collection, distributed through the store. Windows 10 comes with Microsoft Solitaire Collection as standard.^{[7][8][9][10][11][13]}

Sources

1. Albert H. Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith, “The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience Games”, Longmans, Green and Co. (1949) (opens in a new tab)
2. W. Somerset Maugham, “The Gentleman in the Parlour”, Heinemann (1930) (opens in a new tab)
3. Bicycle Cards, “Spider Solitaire” (opens in a new tab)
4. Don Woods and Sun Microsystems, documentation for “spider” (1989) (opens in a new tab)
5. Charlie Blake and Ian P. Gent, “The Winnability of Klondike Solitaire and Many Other Patience Games”, Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research 85 (2026) (opens in a new tab)
6. Microsoft, “Consumer Companion for Windows 98 Offers Powerful New Utilities Desktop Themes and Exciting Games” (June 25, 1998) (opens in a new tab)
7. Microsoft, “Windows Millennium Edition に含まれるゲームの一覧” [List of games included with Windows Millennium Edition], Microsoft Knowledge Base article 306862 (in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
8. Microsoft, “[HOW TO] Windows XP でゲームを追加または削除する方法” [How to add or remove games in Windows XP], Microsoft Knowledge Base article 307768 (2004; in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
9. Raymond Chen, “Spider Solitaire unseats the reigning champion”, The Old New Thing (2005) (opens in a new tab)
10. Microsoft, “スパイダ ソリティア : 遊び方” [Spider Solitaire: How to play], Windows Vista Help (in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
11. Microsoft, “スパイダー ソリティア: 遊び方” [Spider Solitaire: How to play], Windows 7 Help (in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
12. Wikipedia (English), “Spider (solitaire)” (opens in a new tab)
13. Wikipedia (English), “Microsoft Spider Solitaire” (opens in a new tab)
14. Wikipedia (Japanese), “スパイダー (トランプゲーム)” [Spider (card game)] (opens in a new tab)

Frequently asked questions

Is Spider Solitaire free to play?

Yes, it’s free. You don’t need to sign up or install an app. In the 3D view in your browser, you can choose the number of suits and play winnable deals or the daily challenge.

What changes with the number of suits (1, 2, or 4)?

The difficulty changes. Only a run of one suit can be moved together, so the fewer the suits, the easier it is to build long runs and the easier the game. Every option uses 104 cards. Other programs sometimes call 1 suit Beginner, 2 suits Intermediate, and 4 suits Advanced.

Why can’t I deal from the stock when a column is empty?

Because it’s a long-standing rule. A rule book published in 1949 says that all empty columns must be filled before dealing, and many programs follow the same rule. On this page, you can deal with an empty column only when fewer than 10 cards are left on the tableau. This page removes a full run of 13 cards automatically, so once fewer than 10 cards are left on the tableau, you can’t fill all 10 columns, and without this exception you’d be unable to deal the cards left in the stock. This exception isn’t in the book’s rules and is specific to this page.

Can Spider Solitaire always be won?

No, not always. A rule book published in 1949 says that when the game is played with 2 ordinary decks as they are (4 suits on this page) and the face-down cards stay hidden, you win about 1 game in 3. With all the cards visible, a study that checked 32,000 deals with 4 suits found a winning sequence for 31,998 of them. The “Winnable deal” and “Daily challenge” options on this page pick from deals for which the operator found a winning sequence with the solver on this page.

How is Spider Solitaire different from Klondike Solitaire and FreeCell?

The differences are that it uses 2 decks (104 cards) and that, instead of building up the foundations from ace, you line up runs of one suit from king to ace in the tableau and remove them. In the tableau, you can place a card 1 lower on any card regardless of suit, but only a run of one suit can be moved together. The stock is dealt 10 cards at a time, 5 times, with 1 card going to every column.

How many decks and cards does it use?

It uses 2 decks without jokers, 104 cards in all. At the start, 54 cards are dealt into 10 columns, and the remaining 50 cards form the stock. When you play with real cards, shuffle the 2 decks together and lay them out the same way.

Is there a score?

There’s no score on this page. When you clear a deal, the page shows your moves, your time, and how many times you used “Undo move”. For each number of suits, this device keeps a record of the games played, games won, winning streak, longest winning streak, fastest time, and fewest moves (the number of times you used “Undo move” isn’t saved). The well-known scoring (start with 500 points, subtract 1 point for each move, and add 100 points for each full run completed) comes from the version that came with Windows.

Why is it called “Spider”?

There’s no clear record. It’s often explained that the 8 full runs stand for a spider’s 8 legs, but no evidence for this has been found. A rule book published in 1949 doesn’t explain where the name comes from either.

Can I undo after dealing from the stock or after a full run is removed?

Yes. “Undo move” takes back dealing from the stock and the removal of a full run of 13 cards too, as many moves back as you like. The result shows how many times you used “Undo move”.

Where are my records saved?

Your records (win rate, winning streak, fastest time, and fewest moves) are saved for each number of suits, only in the browser on this device. Your result for the daily challenge is sent to this site’s server to show how many people tried it and the spread of results, but the moves and the time themselves are not recorded. If you turn off “Send game statistics” at the bottom of the page, your result for the daily challenge is not sent either (see the privacy policy for details).

Similar games

• Klondike Solitaire

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• FreeCell

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• Hit and Blow

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