How to Play Klondike Solitaire
Klondike deals a standard 52-card deck into seven tableau columns; only the top card of each column starts face-up, and the rest of the deck forms the stock. Your goal is to move all 52 cards onto the four foundations, building each suit from ace up to king. In the tableau you build downward in alternating colors - a red six goes on a black seven - and you can drag whole face-up sequences together. Only a king (or a stack led by one) may fill an empty column. When you move a card off a face-down one, it flips over and earns you points.
Click the stock to deal cards to the waste - three at a time by default, or switch to draw-1 for an easier game. Run out of moves? Recycle the waste back into the stock and keep digging. Undo is unlimited, and an auto-complete button finishes the game for you once every card is face-up.
Strategy Tips
- Always flip face-down cards first - when you can choose between moves, prefer the one that turns over a hidden card. Uncovering the tableau is how games get won; foundation points can wait.
- Don't rush aces and twos to the foundation blindly, but everything else can wait - low cards should go up quickly, yet sending a five or six up too early can strand a red four you'll need as a landing spot later.
- Empty columns are for kings you can actually use - before you clear a column, make sure a useful king (ideally one with a matching queen available) is ready to take it, or you've just wasted your most powerful resource.
- In draw-3, count your stock cycles - only every third card is reachable, so a single tableau play can shift which cards surface on the next pass. Sometimes it pays to delay a move purely to change the deal rhythm.
- Keep color balance in mind - if both black sevens are buried, your red sixes have nowhere to go. Track the colors you'll need two ranks ahead before you bury a card under a long stack.
Read the full Solitaire guide →
Playing Solitaire on PlayVersusAI
Klondike solitaire, the version that shipped with Windows and became the most-played computer game in history. Seven tableau columns, four foundations to build up by suit from ace to king, and a stock you turn through for extra cards. Build down the tableau in alternating colours, move sequences around, and dig out the cards you need.
Drag and drop works as you would expect, double-clicking sends a card to its foundation when it can go, and undo is unlimited — so a game is never unwinnable through a single misclick. Worth knowing before you get frustrated: a meaningful share of Klondike deals are genuinely impossible to win regardless of how well you play. Losing a hand is not always your fault.
What's on This Page
- High-score table — highest scores are ranked on the global leaderboard when you are signed in.
- No account required — the full game is playable as a guest, on desktop, tablet or phone.
There is no AI opponent in Solitaire — the only adversary is the shuffle. The difficulty comes entirely from the deal you are given and the order you choose to unpick it.
Mistakes That Lose Games
- Playing every available move immediately. Moving a card because you can often buries something you needed. Look at what each move closes off before making it.
- Rushing cards to the foundations. A low card sent up early may be exactly what you needed in the tableau to move a sequence later. Hold them back until you are sure.
- Ignoring the longest covered columns. Face-down cards are the real obstacle, and the column with the most of them should usually be your priority.
- Emptying a column with no king ready. An empty column is the most valuable resource in the game, and filling it with the wrong card wastes it.
Solitaire Questions
Are all deals winnable?
No. Roughly one Klondike deal in five cannot be won no matter how perfectly it is played, which is a property of the game rather than a flaw in the shuffle. If a hand feels impossible, it occasionally is.
Can I undo a move?
Yes, as many times as you like. Undo is unlimited, so exploring a line and backing out of it costs you nothing.
How is the score calculated?
Points are awarded for moving cards to the foundations and for revealing face-down cards, so both progress and efficiency count. Your best score is submitted to the high-score table when you are logged in.
For the complete rules, the deeper strategy and the history of the game, read the full Solitaire guide, or browse guides for all 20 games.