Spider Solitaire

Spider Solitaire is a two-deck solitaire game in which you clear the table by assembling complete runs of a single suit. The goal is eight full sequences, each running from King down to Ace, which then leave the board.

The game starts with ten tableau piles of 54 cards in total, with only the top card of each pile face up. The 50 leftover cards wait in the stock and are dealt one to each pile, but only if no pile is empty. Piles build down by rank, and only cards in the same suit run can move together as a unit. In the Windows version the player can choose one, two or four suits, which is the main way difficulty changes.

How to play Spider Solitaire

You work across ten piles at once, so planning ahead matters more than quick moves.

• Move cards onto a pile where they are one rank lower than the top card, regardless of suit.
• Move several cards at once only when they are a run of the same suit in order.
• Assemble a run from King down to Ace in one suit to remove it.
• Deal a new row from the stock when you run out of useful moves, after filling any empty piles.

Tips for Spider Solitaire

• Fill empty piles before dealing from the stock, since a deal is not allowed while a pile is empty.
• Try to build on cards of the same suit when you can, because mixed-suit stacks cannot be moved together.
• Reveal hidden cards in the piles that have the fewest cards left first.
• Think before each deal: it places a card on every pile and can bury moves you were planning.
• With fewer suits the game is easier, so learn the piles on a lighter setting if one is offered.

Spider Solitaire is credited to Agame on this portal.