How to Play Spider Solitaire

Overview & Objective

Spider Solitaire is a one-player game played with two full decks — 104 cards. All of them are dealt into ten columns and a stock, and your job is to arrange every card into eight complete runs from King down to Ace, each in a single suit. Each time you finish a run it is lifted off the table; when the eighth one goes, you have won. There is no waste pile and no separate foundation to build up card by card — everything happens in the columns.

Setup: Ten Columns & the Stock

• Players: One.
• Deck: Two standard 52-card decks shuffled together (104 cards, no jokers).
• Tableau: Ten columns. The first four columns get six cards each and the remaining six get five — 54 cards in total. Only the top card of each column is face up.
• Stock: The other 50 cards, face down. They are dealt in five rows of ten, one card onto every column, whenever you choose to deal.
• Foundations: Eight spaces where completed King-to-Ace runs are stacked. You never place cards there yourself — a finished run moves there automatically.

Building Down

Cards in the columns are built downward in rank. You may place any card on a card that is exactly one rank higher — a Nine on a Ten, a Queen on a King — and suit does not matter for a single placement. A Nine of hearts sits happily on a Ten of spades. Aces are low, so nothing can be placed on an Ace and an Ace goes on any Two.

An empty column accepts any card or any movable run. This is a big difference from Klondike, where only a King may fill a gap — and it is what makes empty columns so powerful in Spider.

Moving Runs

1. A group of cards moves together only if it is a same-suit sequence descending by one — for example Eight, Seven, Six of spades. That is called a run.
2. A mixed-suit sequence (Eight of spades, Seven of hearts, Six of spades) is legal to build but cannot be moved as a unit. Only the cards from the last suit change downward move together.
3. When you pick up a card on CardCouch, it takes the longest same-suit run stacked on it with it. Tap the card, then tap the column it should go to.
4. Whenever a move leaves a face-down card on top of a column, it is turned face up.

Dealing from the Stock

When you run out of useful moves, tap the stock to deal one face-up card onto every column — ten cards at once. The new cards land on top of whatever was there, so a deal usually buries some of your careful work; that is why good players squeeze every move out of the table before dealing.

One strict rule: you may not deal while any column is empty. Every column must hold at least one card first. There are five deals in the stock, and once it is gone the only way forward is the cards already on the table.

Completed Runs

As soon as a column has a complete run — King, Queen, Jack, Ten … Three, Two, Ace, all of one suit, face up and in order — those thirteen cards are removed to a foundation automatically. If a face-down card was underneath, it flips. A finished run counts even if there are other cards below it in the column.

1, 2 and 4 Suits

Spider is played at three levels, and the difference is simply how many suits are in the 104-card pack:

• 1 suit (easy): eight sets of spades. Every descending sequence is automatically a same-suit run, so anything you build can be moved. Ideal for learning the flow.
• 2 suits (medium): four sets of spades and four of hearts. Now you must watch the colour — a red card on a black one breaks the run. This is the classic level most people play.
• 4 suits (hard): two ordinary decks. Runs only move when the suit matches exactly, so every placement has to be planned. Winning four-suit Spider is a real achievement.

On CardCouch you choose the number of suits before dealing, and your best times and fewest moves are kept separately for each level.

Winning the Game

You win when all eight runs are complete and the table is empty. There is no scoring in the traditional sense — fewer moves and a faster time are the marks of a well-played game, and the site tracks your personal bests for each suit count.

Beginner Tips

• Uncover face-down cards first. Prefer any move that flips a new card over one that only tidies face-up cards.
• Build in suit whenever you can. A same-suit run can be moved later; a mixed one is stuck until you dig it apart.
• Empty a column early and keep it empty as long as you can. It is your workspace for splitting mixed runs.
• Don't deal too soon. A deal buries every column. Make every available move — and think about the next one — before you tap the stock.
• Use Undo freely while learning. Seeing why a move blocked you is the fastest way to improve.

Ready for more? Our Spider Solitaire strategy guide goes deeper on winning two- and four-suit deals.

Frequently Asked Questions

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