Klondike Solitaire Rules: How to Play, Setup & Complete Guide

Klondike Solitaire is the world's most played card game. When people say "solitaire" without specifying a variant, they almost always mean Klondike. The game was popularized in the Klondike region of Canada during the gold rush era, and it became a cultural phenomenon when Microsoft included it in Windows 3.0 in 1990 — a decision originally meant to teach users how to use a mouse.

Decades later, Klondike remains the benchmark against which every other patience game is measured. Its appeal lies in a perfect balance: simple enough to learn in minutes, strategic enough to keep you engaged for years.

Setting Up the Game

Klondike uses one standard 52-card deck. Setting up correctly is important — the layout dictates how the game plays out.

The tableau consists of seven columns arranged from left to right:

• Column 1: 1 card (face up)
• Column 2: 2 cards (1 face down, 1 face up)
• Column 3: 3 cards (2 face down, 1 face up)
• Column 4: 4 cards (3 face down, 1 face up)
• Column 5: 5 cards (4 face down, 1 face up)
• Column 6: 6 cards (5 face down, 1 face up)
• Column 7: 7 cards (6 face down, 1 face up)

Only the top card of each column is face up and available to play. All cards beneath it remain hidden until uncovered.

The stock pile holds the remaining 24 cards, face down, in the top-left corner. You draw from this pile during play.

The waste pile sits next to the stock pile. Drawn cards land here face up, and you can play the top card of the waste pile at any time.

The four foundation piles sit in the top-right corner, one per suit: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. They're empty at the start of the game.

The Rules of Klondike Solitaire

Goal

Move all 52 cards to the four foundation piles, building each pile from Ace up to King in the same suit. The game is won when all four foundations show a King on top.

Tableau Rules

Cards in the tableau are stacked in descending rank and alternating colors. A red card must go on a black card, and a black card must go on a red card. For example:

• A black 9 can accept a red 8
• A red Jack can accept a black 10
• A black 3 can accept a red 2

You can only place a card on the next-highest card of the opposite color. A red 7 cannot go directly on a black 9, even if there's a space.

Moving Sequences

You can move a partial or complete sequence of cards together as a single unit, provided the sequence follows the alternating-color descending rule throughout. This is how you reorganize the tableau to expose hidden cards and create useful arrangements.

Empty Columns

When a tableau column is completely cleared, only a King can fill it. You can move a single King or a sequence headed by a King into an empty column. This is a powerful move — empty columns and Kings unlock major reorganization opportunities.

The Stock Pile

When you can't find a useful move in the tableau, draw from the stock pile. In Turn 1 (also called Draw 1), you flip one card at a time into the waste pile. In Turn 3 (Draw 3), you flip three cards at a time — but only the top card of the waste pile is playable.

When the stock pile runs out, you can flip the waste pile over to form a new stock pile and draw again. Most versions allow unlimited redeals.

Building the Foundations

Foundations are built from Ace to King in suit. Once you place an Ace on a foundation, you can add the 2 of the same suit, then the 3, and so on up to the King. Cards moved to foundations generally stay there — moving them back to the tableau is allowed in most versions but rarely helpful.

Turn 1 vs Turn 3: What's the Difference?

The most important variant choice in Klondike is how many cards you draw from the stock pile at once.

Turn 1 (Draw 1) flips one card at a time from the stock pile into the waste pile. Every card in the stock is accessible in sequence, and you have more control over which cards you see and when. Turn 1 is considerably easier and has a win rate of approximately 82% with good play. It's the best starting point for new players.

Turn 3 (Draw 3) flips three cards at a time, but only the top card of the resulting waste pile group is playable. This means two out of every three cards are temporarily inaccessible — you can only reach the buried cards by playing or skipping the cards above them. Turn 3 requires more planning and patience, and offers a meaningfully greater challenge.

Which should you choose? Start with Turn 1 to learn the core mechanics without the added complexity of stock pile management. Once you're consistently finishing Turn 1 games, try Turn 3 for a deeper strategic challenge.

Winning Strategies

Klondike looks simple, but finishing games consistently requires deliberate strategy. These principles separate players who win frequently from those who struggle.

Always play Aces and twos to the foundation immediately. There is no scenario in Klondike where leaving an Ace or two in the tableau is better than moving it to the foundation. These cards have no tableau use — get them to the foundation the moment they appear.

Prioritize exposing hidden cards above everything else. Every face-down card is a mystery that limits your options. Focus on the tableau columns with the most hidden cards and work to flip them face-up. A column with six hidden cards and one face-up card is a top priority.

Don't empty a column unless you have a King ready. Empty columns are powerful, but they're useless without a King to anchor them. Before clearing the last card from a column, make sure you have a King — ideally one with a long sequence attached — that can immediately claim the space.

Keep your foundation piles roughly balanced across suits. If you race one suit far ahead of the others, you'll start locking up cards that the tableau needs for building. A 6 of hearts already on the foundation cannot serve as a step in a red-black tableau sequence. Keep all four suits within two or three ranks of each other.

Use the undo button to explore without commitment. If you're uncertain whether a move is correct, make it and see what it opens up. If it doesn't help, undo and try a different approach. Exploration is a legitimate strategic tool.

Draw through the stock pile before making irreversible decisions. Before making a major tableau reorganization, draw through the entire stock pile once to see what's coming. Knowing what cards are available changes what moves make sense in the tableau.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even experienced players fall into familiar traps. Recognizing these patterns will prevent unnecessary losses.

Moving cards to the foundation too quickly. This counterintuitive mistake trips up many players. Once a card is on the foundation, it's no longer available to help build tableau sequences. If you move the 7 of spades to the foundation and then realize you need it as a step in a long black-on-red chain, you've limited your options. Move cards up only when you're confident you don't need them below.

Ignoring the stock pile. Some players focus entirely on tableau moves and forget to draw. The stock pile contains cards you need — cycle through it regularly to keep new options in play.

Not planning before clearing a column. An empty column created without a plan is often wasted. The temptation to "just clear it" and figure out what to do next is strong, but purposeful column management is far more effective.

Filling empty columns with low-value Kings. A King with a single card beneath it takes up an entire column and contributes little. Prioritize Kings that lead long sequences — a King-down-through-7 is exponentially more useful than a lone King.

Cycling the stock pile endlessly without progress. If you've drawn through the stock pile multiple times without being able to make new moves, the game may be in a stuck position. Evaluate whether there's any tableau move you've overlooked before concluding the game is lost.

How Klondike Compares to Other Solitaire Games

Klondike is the standard by which other solitaire variants are measured. Understanding how it differs from its closest relatives helps you choose which game suits your mood.

FreeCell is Klondike's strategic counterpart. All cards are visible from the start in FreeCell, removing luck entirely and turning the game into a pure planning exercise. FreeCell is harder to play well but has a much higher win rate (99.999% theoretical solvability) because the deal is almost never the problem — you are. If you enjoy Klondike's card-building mechanics but want less randomness, FreeCell is the natural next step.

Spider Solitaire uses two full decks and ten tableau columns. The goal is similar — build complete suit sequences — but the larger scale and different rules make it a substantially more complex game. Spider's four-suit variant is one of the most challenging mainstream solitaire games available.

Pyramid Solitaire plays completely differently: instead of building sequences, you match pairs of cards that add up to 13. It's faster, more luck-dependent, and offers a different kind of satisfaction when the chains of pairs fall into place.

FAQ: Klondike Solitaire Rules

Is every Klondike game winnable?

No. Approximately 82% of Klondike deals are theoretically winnable with perfect play — meaning 18% of deals cannot be won regardless of how well you play. The presence of hidden cards and the fixed order of the stock pile mean that some deals are simply unwinnable from the initial arrangement.

Can I move cards back from the foundation?

In most digital versions, including Pixel Solitaire, yes. Cards can be moved from a foundation back to the tableau if they fit a valid sequence. This is rarely the right move, but there are specific situations — particularly in Turn 3 — where retrieving a foundation card opens up a critical play.

What's the difference between Klondike and Solitaire?

Klondike is solitaire. The word "solitaire" technically refers to any single-player card game, but in everyday usage it almost universally means Klondike. When Microsoft named their inclusion "Solitaire" in 1990, it cemented Klondike as the default meaning of the word in English-speaking cultures.

How long does a Klondike game take?

Most games take between 5 and 15 minutes. A straightforward deal with favorable card placement might be finished in under five minutes by an experienced player. A complex deal with many buried cards and a challenging stock pile order can stretch to 20 minutes or more. Turn 3 games generally take longer than Turn 1.

What happens when I get stuck?

If you've cycled through the stock pile and see no valid moves in the tableau, the game is blocked. In some blocked positions, the game is genuinely unwinnable. In others, you may have missed a move earlier that would have kept options open. Use undo liberally when you feel stuck — you may be able to back up to a decision point and take a different path.

What does it mean to "turn over" the stock pile?

When all cards in the stock pile have been drawn into the waste pile, you can flip the waste pile over (without shuffling) to create a new stock pile and start drawing again. This effectively gives you multiple passes through the same deck of cards. Turn 1 and Turn 3 both allow this, though some physical rule sets limit the number of passes.