🃏 How to play Solitaire (Klondike)
By Miguel Arechaga
Klondike Solitaire is probably the most played card game in the world. It looks like simply moving cards from one place to another, but the order in which you reveal and move each card is the difference between finishing the game and getting stuck halfway through.
What is Klondike Solitaire?
It's a single-player card game. The 52 cards are dealt into 7 columns (with only the last card of each face up) and the rest forms the deck. The goal is to move all the cards to the 4 foundation piles, sorted by suit from Ace to King.
How to play step by step
- In the columns, place cards in descending order alternating colors (for example, a red 7 on a black 8).
- Move an Ace to a foundation pile as soon as it's revealed, and keep stacking there in ascending order of the same suit.
- When you reveal the last hidden card of a column, keep the one that's now face up available to play.
- Draw cards from the deck when you have no moves left in the columns.
- You win when the 4 foundations are complete, from Ace to King.
Strategy: prioritize revealing, not filling foundations
The most common mistake is sending cards to the foundations as soon as you can, for the satisfaction of seeing them "settled." In reality, you should prioritize moves that reveal hidden cards in the columns, because those give you more information and new options. Only send a card to the foundation if you won't need it soon to continue a sequence in the columns: for example, don't move a red 2 up to the foundation if a black 3 needs it to move a group of cards.
Before drawing from the deck, check all the columns carefully: sometimes there's a non-obvious move (like moving an entire group of several cards together) that unlocks the whole game.
Quick tips
- Always reveal cards before moving them to the foundations, whenever you can.
- Save empty column spaces for Kings; they're the only cards that can start a new column.
- If you run out of clear moves, calmly go through the deck a second time before giving up.
With a bit of patience and prioritizing what to reveal first, you'll finish far more games than you think.
🏆 Time ranking
Solitaire has its own global ranking: your best time completing the game is saved. Go to Ranking, the 🕹️ 1 Player tab, choose "Solitaire" from the dropdown, and compare your score with other players, synced to your account. For your result to count you need a free account on MundoSudoku (just a username and password, no email required): you can play without one, but without logging in your score won't be saved to the ranking.
