How to Play Klondike Solitaire (Step-by-Step)

Klondike is the classic solitaire game most people know: seven tableau columns, four foundation piles, and a stock. The goal is to build each foundation from Ace to King in the same suit. Here is how to set up and play, step by step.

Setup

Shuffle one standard 52-card deck. Deal seven columns (the tableau). The first column gets one card (face up), the second two (top face up), the third three, and so on up to seven cards in the last column. The rest of the deck becomes the stock, which you turn over in batches (usually one or three cards at a time, depending on the rules). The four foundation spaces start empty.

Moving Cards on the Tableau

On the tableau, you build in descending order and alternating colors. For example, you can put a red 6 on a black 7, or a black Queen on a red King. You may move a single card or a valid sequence of face-up cards as a unit. Only a King (or a sequence starting with a King) can go on an empty column. Exposing a face-down card by moving the last face-up card off a column is important—it gives you more options.

• Descending order: 7, 6, 5, 4…
• Alternating colors: red on black, black on red
• Move sequences as a block when the order and colors are valid

Foundations and Stock

Aces go to the foundation as soon as they are free. From there, you build up in suit: 2, 3, 4, and so on to King. Cards on the foundation stay there. You win when all four foundations are complete from Ace to King.

When you have no moves on the tableau, turn cards from the stock. In draw-one, you turn one card at a time; in draw-three, you turn three and play the top one. You can go through the stock again (and again) until you run out of moves or win. Not every deal is winnable, but with practice you will win more often.

Quick Tips

• Expose face-down cards before moving cards from the stock when possible.
• Prefer moving from longer columns to shorter ones to create empty columns.
• Do not fill foundations too early if you need those cards on the tableau.