Play Spider Solitaire Online — Free

Ten columns, two decks, and one goal: build every suit from King down to Ace.

The long game

Spider is the solitaire for when you have a proper break. Two full decks are dealt into ten columns, most of the cards face-down, and you work them into eight complete runs from King to Ace. Each finished run lifts off the table on its own — and watching the table empty run by run is the whole satisfaction of Spider.

Choose your difficulty

Spider is really three games. With one suit every card fits with every other, and most deals come out — the gentle game for a coffee. Two suits make you think about which run to build. Four suits is the classic test: a card can go on any card one rank higher, but only a run of one suit moves as a unit, so a wrong colour blocks the column until you dig it out. Pick the level on the board; the next deal uses it.

How to play Spider

The goal is to build eight runs from King down to Ace, each in a single suit — each one leaves the table as soon as it is complete.

1. The layout: 104 cards from two decks. Ten columns get 54 of them — six cards in each of the first four, five in the rest — and only the top card of each column is face-up. The other 50 wait in the stock, five deals of ten.
2. Move a card onto a card one rank higher in any column, whatever its suit: a seven goes on any eight.
3. Move a whole run at once only when it is one suit in order, such as nine, eight, seven of spades. A mixed run moves one card at a time from the top.
4. When you uncover a face-down card it turns over. An empty column takes any card or same-suit run.
5. Stuck? Tap the stock to deal a new row — one card onto every column. A new row cannot be dealt while a column stands empty.
6. A run from King to Ace in one suit leaves the table by itself. Clear all eight and you have won.

Every finished run is a reward

In Spider progress is visible: a whole column of King-to-Ace disappears from the table and a face-down card underneath turns over. One-suit deals almost always come out; four suits is a real puzzle, and plenty of deals take several tries. Undo is unlimited here, so a dead end is a lesson rather than a loss.

Tips that actually help

• Turn over face-down cards first — every card you reveal gives you more options.
• Build in one suit whenever you can choose. A mixed run can only be taken apart one card at a time.
• An empty column is the most valuable thing on the table. Use it to rearrange runs, not to park a single card.
• Before dealing a new row, sort what you can: the new row covers every column at once.
• With two or four suits, play the high cards onto each other early, so Kings do not end up buried.

Why play it here

• Free, in the browser, with no download and no sign-up.
• One, two or four suits — from relaxed to really hard.
• A hint that lights up every card that can move right now.
• Unlimited undo, so a wrong move never ends the game.
• Klondike, FreeCell and TriPeaks are one tap away, and your progress carries across all of them.

Questions