Spider Solitaire 247 - How to Play Spider Solitaire

Here at 247 Spider Solitaire, we’re proud to bring you an impressive 14 different variations of Spider Solitaire – the patience game that’ll soon have you caught in its web. Whether you want to win an impressive three stars across all of our games, or you’ve got your eye on the top spot of our leaderboard, that goal could be easily within your reach if you learn to play by the rules. Ideal for lovers of other solitaire games like patience solitaire and beyond, try your hand at Spider Solitaire and see whether you’ve got what it takes to build a web worth weaving.

What is Spider Solitaire?

Spider Solitaire is a kind of patience card game that’s easily one of the most popular solitaire games you can play. So-called because of the eight sorted sequences that players must achieve to clear the table, Spider Solitaire requires equal parts patience and strategy if you intend to win. Classic Spider Solitaire has been a favorite playing option since as far back as 1949. It’s such a popular player’s choice that there are now multiple variations of Spider Solitaire for players who enjoy the original game, including Spiderette, Wasp, and Scorpion Solitaire.

The overall aim of Spider Solitaire is to clear the table by ordering eight finished decks from King to Ace. There are various ways to achieve that goal, and we’ll consider the best ones here.

Spider Solitaire: Key Terms

Before we get into the sticky web of Spider Solitaire gameplay, it’s useful to cover a quick glossary of key terms that you’ll need to be familiar with. Luckily, Spider Solitaire is a simple game to get to grips with, and there aren’t too many words to learn. Key terms that will make gameplay easier to understand include –

• Foundation: An area that begins with eight empty panels that players must fill with finished card sequences by the end of the game.
• Tableau: The ten initial piles of 54 cards that are placed on the table at the beginning of the round.
• Stock: A pile of 50 cards that are placed facedown, from which players can draw ten cards during each round of gameplay.
• Undo: When playing Spider Solitaire on any device, you’ll have access to an undo button that makes it possible to undo as many previous moves as players like, though often at the cost of points.
• New Game: If you can’t move forward with your game of Spider Solitaire, you can click the New Game button at the bottom of your gameplay screen to have another go.

How to Play Spider Solitaire

Traditional Spider Solitaire is played using two decks of French-suited playing cards. You can play Spider Solitaire across one, two, or four suits depending on your skill level. In each instance, the ultimate aim of the game remains the same. Keep on reading to find out how to play Spider Solitaire like a winner.

The Aim of Spider Solitaire

The ultimate aim of Spider Solitaire is to simply move all of the cards from your tableau and stock into eight foundation sequences. You achieve this by moving the first card of each tableau to order your suits in descending order. If you’ve moved every card in your tableau, you can also click your stock button to receive a new card on each stack. You should repeat this process until you either win or reach a stalemate that requires a new game.

The order that you need to place each suit in to remove from the table is as follows – King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.

Choosing Your Suits

As mentioned, you can play Spider Solitaire with either all four suites in a deck of cards, or with one or two suites if you prefer. The best option will depend on your skill level and the time you have to play, as follows –

• One-suit Spider Solitaire is a relaxing, simple game that’s great for beginners.
• Two-suit games can take a bit longer but are a great next step if you’re finding one-suit Spider Solitaire too simple.
• Four-suit Spider Solitaire is the most advanced gameplay you can choose and is best for players with experience and the time to sort from an entire deck of cards.

Spider Solitaire: The Set-Up

The great thing about playing Spider Solitaire online is that you don’t need to worry about setting up your gameplay – we take care of that for you! However, you still need to know a thing or two about the Spider Solitaire set-up to play well.

Your Spider Solitaire set-up will look roughly the same regardless of the number of suits you’re playing with and will include a tableau of 10 stacks, a stockpile in the right-hand corner of your screen, and a foundation.

You’ll start your game with a ten-stack tableau consisting of four piles of six cards, and six piles of five cards. The first card in each stack should face outwards. This is the only card you can move during gameplay. Once you’ve moved this card, you’re free to turn the next card in the stack.

Your remaining cards are placed facedown in a stockpile, which you can draw from when you run out of moves.

Scoring in Spider Solitaire

Players begin Spider Solitaire with 500 points, which they can boost by 100 points for every sequence they move off the table. However, players also lose one point for every move they make, as well as additional points for undoing previous moves. The maximum theoretical score you can gain during a game of Spider Solitaire is around 1256. There’s no minimum amount of moves you can make during a game of Spider Solitaire, but the more moves you make, the lower your overall score will be.

How to Move Your Cards

During Spider Solitaire, players can move the first card in each row onto a card that’s one higher in rank. Considering the ultimate goal of winning the game, players should try to do this using cards in the same suit where possible. This will earn them the highest score overall without needing to undo any moves.

It’s also possible to move cards onto a card that’s one higher in rank from a different suit when no other moves are possible. If you collect a few different cards from the same suit next to each other, you can then move all of those cards to another row. However, there is some luck involved here, as you never know what you’ll draw from your stockpile.

The best techniques to bear in mind when moving cards include –

• Value empty spaces: Empty spaces are invaluable for gameplay, as they provide a place to position cards that could end up blocking you, or additional cards with nowhere else to go. If possible, aim to move your cards in a way that creates space as soon as possible.
• Move as many times as you can before drawing: Drawing cards from your stockpile can block you in, so make sure that you’ve made as many moves as possible before taking this step.
• Try to reveal facedown cards: Revealing facedown cards in your tableau can unveil new moves without risking your drawpile, so aim to do this early in gameplay.

Drawing From Your Stockpile

When you run out of moves, you can draw from your stockpile by clicking on the facedown card in the right-hand corner of your screen. This will draw ten cards each time, which will land at the beginning of each tableau stack. You can do this up to five times in a game.

Stockpile cards can be useful because they reveal potential new moves, but they can also block other cards, especially if you have mixed suits. For this reason, you should always make sure that you’ve made every possible move before clicking your stockpile.

There is one instance when you can’t draw from your stockpile, and that’s when you don’t have at least one card in each column. This can be a problem given the value of empty spaces during gameplay, but players can get around this issue by simply moving a suit from a full column to an empty one before drawing.

Undoing Your Moves

As mentioned, you can undo your moves at any stage during a game of Spider Solitaire using the undo button. You can use this button as many times as you like during gameplay if, say, you’ve reached a stalemate and want to go back. However, you do lose points each time you undo a move, meaning that you’ll want to use this option rarely and with care. This requires a level of strategic play, and you should ideally only undo your moves if you know a set place from which you can improve the outcome of your game.

Winning Spider Solitaire

Winning Spider Solitaire requires you to complete eight foundation suits. You can remove each suit from the table once you’ve placed your cards in descending order, ending with the Ace. You win a game when you’ve moved eight suits from your Tableau to your foundation, and have no remaining cards in your stockpile. Your overall score at the end of your game will depend on how many moves and undos it took you to clear the table. Most players win around 1 in every 3 games of Spider Solitaire they play.

Sometimes, you’ll reach a stalemate before you’re able to clear the table. In this instance, you should start a new game of Spider Solitaire and try again.

Spider Solitaire Tips and Tricks

Spider Solitaire is a game that requires a range of different skills, including patience, logic, and planning. While there is some element of luck involved in things like the cards you draw, skilled players use a range of different tips and tricks to improve their chances of winning. But, what are the best gameplay tricks to bear in mind when you start to cast the Spider Solitaire web?

1. Build on higher cards first: Building on higher cards first makes it less likely that your cards will end up locked into the wrong place after a draw.
2. Expose as many cards as possible before drawing: Exposing cards in your tableau can boost your chances of clearing spaces early on, and ultimately winning. To achieve this, take time to move every single card possible, preferably into matching suits, before you draw from your stockpile.
3. Use empty piles as temporary storage: Storing spare cards in any empty spaces has the double benefit of setting those cards aside, and also freeing you to draw again.
4. Rearrange your columns: Once your tableau is organized, look into rearranging your columns where possible. Breaking stacks to merge columns can cost points, but it may also win the game down the line.
5. Use undo wisely: Don’t be afraid to use the undo button – it’s an invaluable gameplay tool. However, make sure to use this option wisely, such as after a poor draw, or when you know that a specific move is responsible for any issues.

Variations of Spider Solitaire

Spider Solitaire is such a popular game that there are now plenty of variations to enjoy. We offer 14 different variations here on 247 Spider Solitaire, the most popular of which include –

Spiderette Solitaire

Spiderette Solitaire is a fast-fire version of Spider Solitaire that’s lovingly earned its name after the fantastic female spiders who can run around 330 times their own length in just ten seconds! Like Spider Solitaire, you can choose to play Spiderette Solitaire across one, two, or four suits. Unlike traditional Spider Solitaire, Spiderette Solitaire is played using just one deck of cards. This makes for a far speedier game, but limited options mean that winning Spiderette Solitaire can be difficult. Ideal for players already familiar with Spider Solitaire, Spiderette Solitaire is a fantastic fast-fire game that you can play anywhere with 247 Spider Solitaire.

Wasp Solitaire

As the name suggests, Wasp Solitaire is a take on Spider Solitaire, but with a definite sting in its tail. While it uses just one suit at a time across all games, wasp solitaire is anything but easy. That’s because, unlike with Spider Solitaire, players can move any card into any stack, with the ultimate goal of building four stacks from king to ace. To win, players need to act fast, have faith, and believe in their ability to make those cards go where they need to.

Scorpion Solitaire

From one sting to another, Scorpion Solitaire may share an objective with Spider Solitaire, but it’s an even meaner game to beat! Again, you can choose to play Scorpion Solitaire using either one, two, or four suits with ascending levels of difficulty. However, even one suit Scorpion Solitaire is a tricky game that involves a set-up with aptly named parts, including the head, the tail, and the body. Like a real scorpion, players should only use the tail as a last resort in their quest to collect four columns in sequence. Odds are that players only win every five games. Are you up for the challenge?

Yukon Solitaire

Yukon Solitaire is a mixture of Spider and Scorpion Solitaire, but it only ever uses two suits. Players, therefore, have two different foundations – one for each completed suit. Yukon is a great option for beginners, as it’s a relatively simple and relaxing game, with pretty good odds on a win. Simply move your deck to your foundations in descending suit order, and sit back to enjoy that satisfying winner’s glow.

Spider Solitaire FAQs

1. How do I play Spider Solitaire?

You play Spider Solitaire by moving the first card in each of your Tableau stacks on top of a card that’s one higher in value. The aim is to build whole suits in descending order. Once you have a full suit, you can move it off the table into your foundation. When all of your cards are in your foundation, you’ve won the game.

2. Why can’t I draw new cards from my stockpile?

You can draw ten cards at a time from your stockpile, a total of five times throughout each game. However, you cannot draw cards if you have an empty space on your tableau. Fill any gaps with spare cards to enable another draw.

3. Is there a maximum number of moves in Spider Solitaire?

Theoretically, there’s no maximum number of moves in Spider Solitaire. However, each move does cost one point. If you run out of points, then you’ve reached your maximum moves for that game and should try again.

4. What games is Spider Solitaire similar to?

Spider Solitaire is ideal for individuals who already enioy any other Solitaire games, particularly options like Wasp Solitaire and Scorpion Solitaire.

5. Is there an easy version of Spider Solitaire?

Yes. You can make Spider Solitaire as simple or difficult as you like by choosing between one-suit (easiest), two-suits (medium), or four-suits (difficult).

At 247 Spider Solitaire, we offer Spider Solitaire games to suit every skill level and player preference. Simply start playing today, and get stuck into a web that you’ll never want to get out of!

• Challenge yourself with Spider Solitaire! Try to earn 3 stars on every Spider Solitaire game!
• Spider Solitaire has been completed when all of the card stacks are removed.
• Add more cards to your Spider Solitaire foundation by selecting the card stack at the bottom right corner of the screen.

DISCLAIMER: The games on this website are using PLAY (fake) money. No payouts will be awarded, there are no "winnings", as all games represented by 247 Games LLC are free to play. Play strictly for fun.