Klondike Solitaire

Klondike is the solitaire most people picture when they hear the word. You build four piles of cards from ace up to king, one pile for each suit, by sorting seven columns that start mostly face down.

How to play

The goal is to move all 52 cards to the four piles at the top, in order from ace to king, one suit per pile.

The seven columns hold 1, 2, 3, up to 7 cards, and only the top card of each column is face up. The rest of the deck waits in the stock.

• In the columns, place a card on another card that is one rank higher and the opposite color. A red 6 goes on a black 7. You can lift a whole face-up run and move it together.
• Empty columns accept only a king, with or without the cards on top of it.
• The stock gives you new cards. Tap it to turn cards onto the waste pile beside it. Only the top waste card can be played. When the stock runs out, tap the empty space to turn the waste pile over and go through it again, if the level allows another trip.
• The top piles take an ace first, then the 2 of the same suit, and so on. A card can also come back down from a top pile to a column if that helps.

On a phone, tap a card and it jumps to the best place it fits, or drag it where you want it. On a computer, click a card, or hold the mouse button and drag. Undo takes back as many moves as you like, and Hint points at a card and where it could go.

The levels

All four levels use the same layout. They differ in how many cards you turn from the stock and how many trips you get.

• Easy: turn one card at a time, with as many trips through the stock as you like.
• Medium: one card at a time, but only one trip through the stock.
• Hard: turn three cards at a time. Only the top one can be played, and trips are not limited.
• Expert: three cards at a time, three trips, and deals that the Hint button alone cannot win.

The deals are not random in the usual sense. For each level the site draws from a list of deals that a solving program found a win for under that level's rules, so a win always exists.

Today's game

The daily game is an Easy deal, and everyone who opens it on the same calendar day gets the same cards. Your progress on it is kept apart from your regular game.

Tips

1. Turn over the face-down cards first. Each one you uncover is new information, and an empty column is worth a lot.
2. Do not rush cards to the top piles. A low card sent up early may be the one you needed to hold a run in the columns.
3. Before you move a card from the waste pile, check whether it uncovers something better. Playing from the columns usually comes first.
4. Keep a king ready for an empty column. An empty column with no king to fill it is not much use.
5. Choose between two same-colored moves by looking at what is underneath. Free the column with more face-down cards.
6. On Hard and Expert, remember that three cards come off the stock at a time. Playing the top card changes which card shows next time around.

A bit of history

Klondike is a patience game, a solitaire played with one deck by one person. For many people it is simply what "solitaire" means.

Questions

Is every deal winnable? Yes, on this site. Each new deal on Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert is picked from a list of deals proven winnable under that level's rules. That does not mean it is easy to find the win.

What is the difference between a trip and a move? A trip is one pass through the whole stock. Medium has one trip, Expert has three. A move is any single card or run you place.

Can I take a card back down from the top piles? Yes. In Klondike a card may leave a top pile and go onto a column if it fits there.