How to Play Klondike Solitaire

Move all 52 cards onto the four foundation piles, one per suit, building from Ace up to King. When every foundation is complete, the game is won.

• Deal seven tableau columns from left to right. Column 1 gets 1 card, column 2 gets 2, up to column 7 with 7 cards.
• Only the top card of each column is face-up; the rest are face-down.
• The remaining 24 cards form the stock, face-down at the top of the table.
• The four foundations start empty, one for each suit (♠ ♥ ♦ ♣).

Tableau moves

• Build tableau stacks down in rank, alternating colors (a red 6 on a black 7, then a black 5 on the red 6, and so on).
• You can move a single card or a valid run of cards together.
• When a face-down card becomes the new top of a column, flip it face-up.
• Only a King (or a King-led run) can be placed on an empty column.

Foundation moves

• Foundations are built up in suit, starting with the Ace (A, 2, 3, … J, Q, K).
• You can move cards from the tableau or waste onto a foundation, and you may pull a card back off the foundation onto the tableau if the move is legal.

Stock & waste

• Click the stock to turn cards onto the waste pile. The top of the waste is playable to the tableau or a foundation.
• When the stock empties, the waste recycles back into the stock so you can cycle through again.

Draw 1 turns one card at a time from the stock and is the beginner-friendly mode — every card in the deck becomes reachable.

Draw 3 turns three cards but only lets you play the top one. That hides two-thirds of the stock unless the cards above get played, which is why Draw 3 has a much lower win rate and is the tournament standard.

Royal Solitaire follows standard Klondike scoring: points for moving cards to the foundation, points for flipping a hidden tableau card, and a small time bonus on quick wins. Undo is unlimited but each undo costs score, so it pays to think a move ahead instead of guessing.

1. Always uncover face-down cards first. Every face-down card you flip opens new options. Prioritize moves that reveal a new card over moves that just shuffle face-up cards around.
2. Promote Aces and Twos immediately. They can never block a useful build, so send them to the foundation the moment they appear.
3. Don't rush higher cards to the foundation. A red 5 sitting on a black 6 can still receive a black 4. Pull it to the foundation too early and you lose that landing spot.
4. Empty columns are valuable — but only for Kings. Hold an empty column open until you have a King (or a King-led run) ready to move into it.
5. Plan around the stock. In Draw 3, count what comes up on each pass so you know which waste cards are reachable. If a key card is buried, find a tableau path before you commit to a draw cycle.
6. Use undo deliberately. Treat it as a "try-before-you-buy" for risky moves, not a get-out-of-jail card. Each undo costs points.
7. If you stall, restart. Roughly 1 in 5 Draw 1 deals are unwinnable even with perfect play. A fresh seed beats grinding a dead board.

• Auto-promoting every card to the foundation as soon as it's legal.
• Filling an empty column with a low card instead of saving it for a King.
• Drawing through the stock without a plan, burning recycle cycles.
• Ignoring color rules and trying to stack same-color cards on the tableau.

The fastest way to lock in these tactics is a hand or two. Start a quick classic deal, or take today's seeded Daily Challenge — the same deal everyone else gets, so you can compare scores.