Play Klondike Solitaire online, free
This is Klondike, the solitaire most people grew up with. It runs right here in your browser, it's free, and there's nothing to download or sign up for. Deal a game above and start moving cards.
How to play
The goal is to move all 52 cards onto the four piles at the top right, called the foundations. Each foundation holds one suit, built up in order from Ace to King.
- The seven columns are where most of the game happens. Build them down in alternating colours: a red 6 on a black 7, then a black 5 on the red 6.
- Moving cards. You can move a single card or a whole ordered run from one column to another. When you uncover a face-down card, it turns over.
- Empty columns can only take a King, or a run that starts with a King.
- The stock is the face-down pile at the top left. Tap it to turn cards onto the waste pile beside it. When it runs out, tap the empty spot to turn the waste back over.
For the full picture with a labelled diagram, see how to play solitaire. For a quick lookup, the rules page has everything in one table.
How the cards are dealt
Klondike uses one standard deck of 52 cards. 28 of them go into the seven columns: one card in the first column, two in the second, and so on up to seven in the last. Only the top card of each column is face up. The other 24 cards make up the stock, face down at the top left. The four foundations start empty.
Turn 1 or Turn 3
The Draw button switches between turning one card at a time and three at a time. Turn 1 is the relaxed version: you see every card in the stock on every pass. Turn 3 is the traditional, harder version, because you can only play the top card of each group of three. The game remembers your choice.
If you always play three at a time, Klondike Turn 3 has its own page with tips just for that version. For a stricter game with a limited number of passes, try Vegas Solitaire.
Solitaire strategy: how to win
Klondike has more skill in it than it looks. These habits win more games, whichever way you play.
Play Aces and 2s straight away
An Ace or a 2 is never useful in the columns, because nothing can be built on it there. Move them to the foundations as soon as they appear.
Keep other low cards back when they're useful
A black 4 in a column might be the only place for a red 3 you'll need later. Before you send a 3, 4 or 5 up to a foundation, check that nothing still depends on it.
Uncover the biggest face-down pile first
The columns on the right hold the most hidden cards, and hidden cards are where games get stuck. When you have a choice, make the move that turns over a card in the deepest column.
Don't empty a column without a King ready
Only a King can go into an empty column. Clearing one with no King to put there just wastes the space, and you lose a place to build.
Choose your King's colour with care
If a red Queen is waiting for a home, the black King is the one to move into a space. Picking the wrong colour can block a whole run of cards.
When two moves are possible, pick the one that frees a card
If two black 7s could take your red 6, move it from the column where doing so turns over a face-down card. A move that reveals something beats a move that just tidies up.
Look through the stock before you commit
Especially in Turn 3, it pays to know what's in the stock before making big moves in the columns. Use Undo to look ahead, as often as you like.
How hard is Solitaire?
Not every deal can be won. Research from the University of St Andrews found that, with perfect play and every card known, about 90% of Turn 1 deals and about 82% of Turn 3 deals can be won. In a real game you can't see the face-down cards, so the true figure is lower. A strong player winning around four games in ten is doing well. Our post on the odds of winning Solitaire explains the numbers.
Scoring
| Move | Points |
|---|---|
| Card to a foundation | +10 |
| Waste card to a column | +5 |
| Turning over a face-down card | +5 |
| Foundation card back to a column | −15 |
| Recycling the waste (Turn 1) | −100 |
The Vegas Solitaire page uses a different system: you start at -$52 and earn $5 for each card on a foundation.
Handy controls
- Drag a card or run to where you want it, or just tap it and it goes to the best legal spot.
- Hint lights up a useful move. Undo takes back as many moves as you like (Ctrl+Z works too).
- When every card is face up and the stock is empty, the game finishes itself.
- Designs changes the table and card backs. Music plays calm background tracks.
Play on any device
Solitaire runs in any modern browser on a computer, tablet or phone. The cards resize to fill your screen, so they stay big and clear even on a small phone. There's no app to install and no account to make. Bookmark the page and it's ready whenever you are.
Solitaire or Patience?
They're the same thing. In Britain and much of the world, card games for one player have long been called patience. In the US they're called solitaire, and the word has come to mean Klondike in particular. If you grew up playing patience, this is the game you know.
A short history
Card games for one player go back to Europe in the late 1700s. Klondike, probably named after the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s, became the best known of them in North America. In 1990 Microsoft put it on every computer with Windows 3.0, and it has been one of the most played games in the world ever since. Read more in our history of solitaire.
Questions people ask
- Is this solitaire game free?
- Yes. Every game on this site is free to play in your browser. There is no account, no download and no time limit.
- What is the difference between Turn 1 and Turn 3?
- In Turn 1 you turn one card from the stock at a time, so you see every card on every pass. In Turn 3 you turn three at a time and can only play the top one, which makes the game much harder. Use the Draw button to switch.
- Can every game of Klondike be won?
- No. Even with perfect play and every card known, about 1 in 10 Turn 1 deals and about 1 in 5 Turn 3 deals cannot be won. With the face-down cards hidden, good players win far fewer than that.
- Can I undo a move?
- Yes. Press Undo, or Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on a Mac), as many times as you like. You can undo all the way back to the deal.
- Does it work on my phone?
- Yes. The cards resize to fit your screen. Drag cards with your finger, or tap a card to send it to the best place it can go.
- What is the difference between Klondike and Solitaire?
- Solitaire is the name for any card game you play on your own. Klondike is the most popular of them, so in the US and on most computers the word Solitaire has come to mean Klondike.
- Why is it called Klondike?
- Nobody knows for certain. The name is generally thought to come from the Klondike gold rush in northern Canada in the late 1890s. The earliest printed rules appeared soon after, in the early 1900s.
- How is the score worked out?
- You get 10 points for each card moved to a foundation, 5 for each waste card moved to a column and 5 for each face-down card you turn over. Moving a card back off a foundation costs 15, and turning the waste back over in Turn 1 costs 100.
- Can I play full screen?
- The game already fills the browser window. For full screen, press F11 on Windows, or Ctrl+Cmd+F on a Mac, in most browsers.
- Can I change how the cards look?
- Yes. Press Designs under the table to choose from 13 card designs and table colours. The game remembers your choice next time.
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