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Solitaire
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— About the game
About Solitaire
Solitaire — also known as Klondike — is the single most played card game in the world, and this free online version brings the full experience to your browser. The goal is to move all 52 cards to the four foundation piles, building each suit in order from Ace up to King. Along the way you reorganise the seven tableau columns into neat alternating-colour runs.
Solitaire is the perfect mix of luck and skill. Every deal is solvable far more often than not, but careful planning is what separates a quick win from a stuck board. It is a calm, focused game that suits a five-minute coffee break just as well as a longer relaxing session. No account, no download — your game starts the moment the page loads.
The depth of Solitaire is often underrated. Mathematical analyses have shown that roughly 80% of three-card-draw Klondike deals are solvable with perfect play, but the average human player wins far less than that — meaning skill genuinely matters. The difference between a "lucky" win and a "skilled" win shows up in how often you fail to find the move that was actually available. Reading the board carefully, especially the order in which you free face-down cards, separates players who win 30% of deals from players who win 50% or more.
This browser Solitaire is free, instant and works on any device. The cards are clean and readable at any zoom level, drag-and-drop works on touch and mouse, and your win rate is tracked locally so you can watch your skill improve over time. There are no ads inside the game, no microtransactions and no sign-up — just open the page and the next deal is waiting.
— How to play
How to play Solitaire
- Click a card to select, click destination to move
- Tableau: alternating colors descending
- Foundations: same suit, A → K
- Click the deck to draw
— Controls
Solitaire controls
Desktop (mouse & keyboard)
Use arrow keys, WASD, the mouse or spacebar where the game requires it. Specific controls match the "How to play" steps above — each step describes the exact input the game expects.
Mobile (touchscreen)
Tap, hold, swipe or drag — whichever your finger naturally does for the action described in the steps. Solitaire is mobile-first and works in portrait or landscape on any modern phone or tablet.
— Strategy & tips
How to win
- Always free up face-down cards first — turning them over opens new moves.
- Do not rush Aces and 2s to the foundation if they still help the tableau.
- Empty a column only when you have a King ready to move into it.
- Draw from the deck when you are stuck — a fresh card often unblocks the board.
- Think before every move; one wasted draw can cost you the game.
— Game features
Why you'll love it
- Full Klondike Solitaire rules
- Clean, readable cards with clear suits
- Works with tap controls on mobile
- Unlimited free deals, no sign-up
— Origin & history
The story behind Solitaire
Solitaire card games are among the oldest documented card patiences, with mentions of single-player card games appearing in literature as early as 1788 in Germany. The specific Klondike layout — seven tableau columns of increasing length, four foundation piles, a stockpile with deal mechanics — emerged during the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon in 1896-99, where prospectors reportedly played the game during long winters. Klondike became culturally enormous when Microsoft bundled it with Windows 3.0 in 1990, partly as a way to teach office workers how to use a mouse for drag-and-drop. That single inclusion is estimated to have produced billions of hours of gameplay over the following decades, making Microsoft Solitaire one of the most-played games in human history. The browser version you are playing keeps the same Windows-era rules and visual conventions.
— Advanced strategy
Master-level Solitaire
The single highest-value strategic concept in Klondike Solitaire is "column priority". Not all face-down cards are equal — the face-down cards in the longest columns are statistically the hardest to reach, and they are the ones most likely to leave you stuck if they reveal a card you cannot place. Expert players prioritise revealing face-down cards in the longest columns first, even when shorter columns have easier face-downs to reach. The logic is mathematical: if a long column hides a card you need access to and you do not reach it before running out of moves elsewhere, the game becomes unwinnable. Spending early effort to crack open long columns is the single change that most improves win rates.
The second crucial concept is "foundation discipline". The instinct is to send every Ace and 2 to the foundation pile the moment they appear, because that feels like progress. The expert understanding is the opposite: low cards in the foundation are unrecoverable, while low cards in the tableau can still serve as building blocks for sequences. Sending a 2 to the foundation too early can leave a key 3 in the tableau with no smaller card to sit on, which deadlocks part of the board. The correct rule is to only send a card to the foundation when it is no longer useful in the tableau — usually meaning the card immediately below it (in the foundation order) is also already in the foundation. This discipline alone moves intermediate players into the advanced bracket.
— Frequently asked questions
Solitaire FAQ
Are all Solitaire deals winnable?
Most are, but not all. Computer analysis has shown that approximately 79% of randomly dealt Klondike games (with three-card draw) are solvable with perfect play, while the remaining 21% are dead deals where no sequence of moves can clear the board. The challenge is that you cannot know in advance which type of deal you have — recognising a dead deal usually requires either deep play experience or computational verification. For human players, the practical implication is that losing a game does not always mean you played badly; sometimes the deal was simply unwinnable.
What is the difference between one-card and three-card draw?
In one-card draw Solitaire, each click on the stockpile turns over a single card and makes it available to play. In three-card draw, each click flips three cards but only the top card of those three is playable until you draw again. Three-card draw is significantly harder because it hides cards in inaccessible positions; one-card draw is the gentler variant most players prefer. The browser version typically defaults to one-card draw to give beginners a friendlier experience.
Can I undo moves?
Most browser Solitaire implementations include an undo button that lets you reverse your last move, sometimes with a small score penalty. Undo is genuinely useful for learning — it lets you try moves and see consequences without losing progress. Some variants disable undo for "official" scoring runs, but for casual play the undo button is one of the most player-friendly features ever added to digital card games. Use it liberally as a learning tool, and sparingly during scored runs.
— Strategy guides
Read our Solitaire guides
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