Spider Solitaire for beginners: from 1 suit to 4 suits

01What is Spider Solitaire?

Spider is a patience game for two decks of cards. You have ten columns on the table and a stock of fifty cards. Your job is to build eight complete runs, each one a single suit from King down to Ace. A finished run leaves the table by itself, and when the eighth one goes, you win.

It is a calm, absorbing game that suits a quiet ten minutes or a long evening. You can try it free in our Spider Solitaire game, with no download and no sign-up, and you can choose how hard it is.

02The rules in plain words

There are only a handful of rules, and they are easy to remember.

• The game starts with ten columns. Only the top card of each is face up.
• You may place a card on any card one rank higher. A 6 of hearts can go on a 7 of spades.
• Cards of the same suit that are in order can be moved together. A 9, 8 and 7 of spades move as one group.
• Any card or run can be placed in an empty column.
• When you are out of moves, tap the stock to deal one new face-up card onto every column. You cannot deal while a column is empty.
• A full run of the same suit from King to Ace is removed from the table. The goal is eight of them.

03Which level should a beginner pick?

Start with 1 suit. With only spades in play, every sequence you build counts, and you will learn the shape of the game quickly. Most careful players win most of their 1-suit games, which keeps it enjoyable while you learn.

Move up to 2 suits when you win more than half your 1-suit games. With two suits, stacks that mix suits cannot move as a group, so you must choose carefully what to build on. Only when you are comfortable there should you try 4 suits, where even good players lose most games and a win feels like an achievement.

04Your first game: a step by step plan

Look at the ten face-up cards. Find any move that places a card on one rank higher, and prefer moves that turn a face-down card over. Each time you turn a card, the board opens up and you have more choices.

Work on the columns with the most face-down cards first, because they are hiding the most. Do not worry about completing runs at this stage. Early on, the aim is to see as many cards as you can and to build same-suit sequences when it is easy to do so.

When there are no useful moves left, tap the stock. Before you do, check every column once more: a deal covers every column with a new card, and it is much better to have made your moves first.

05Building on the right suit

In 1 suit it does not matter, but in 2 and 4 suits it matters a great deal. A 6 of hearts on a 7 of hearts creates a two-card run that can move together. A 6 of hearts on a 7 of spades does not. You will sometimes have to build on the wrong suit to free a hidden card, and that is fine, but do it deliberately.

A good habit is to ask whether a stack you are building can be moved later. If it is mixed, you will need an empty column or a free spot to take it apart, so try not to make mixed stacks too long.

06Empty columns and when to deal

An empty column is the most valuable thing on the table. It lets you move any card or run anywhere, so it works as a parking space for a whole sequence. But it also blocks dealing, so you must put a card back in it before you can deal.

That leads to the main timing rule of Spider: deal only when you have used every useful move. Each deal adds ten cards, and the cards land on top of what you were building. Beginners deal too early and bury the cards they needed. The small number on the stock shows how many deals remain, from five down to none.

07Tips for 2 suits and 4 suits

The extra suits change how you think, not the rules.

• Choose one suit to focus on, and build it as far as you can before you start on another.
• Try to keep the same suit in the same column. A column that is all spades from King down can be finished easily later.
• Keep your lowest cards free. An Ace or 2 at the bottom of a pile under a King makes a run slow to finish.
• Use Undo to test a line. Spider rewards experiment: move a run, see what it uncovers, and take it back if it does not help.
• In 4 suits, look two or three moves ahead before you commit to a stack of mixed suits.

08How to use hints and undo to learn

Press Hint and the game suggests a move based only on what you can see. It prefers finishing a run, joining same-suit cards, turning a hidden card face up and clearing a column. If it points to the stock, it means there is nothing useful left on the board.

The best way to learn is to try your own move first, then press Hint and compare. When they differ, ask why. Undo is unlimited, so there is no risk in testing the idea you think is right.

09The most common beginner mistakes

The first is dealing too early. The second is building on any card that fits instead of one of the same suit. The third is ignoring the tallest column, which hides the most cards and often the ones you need. The fourth is emptying a column when you have nothing to put there: an empty column also stops you from dealing. A fifth, and a quiet one, is forgetting how many cards of each rank have already been used. With two decks, a 1-suit game has eight copies of every rank, so keep a rough count of the Aces and 2s that have already gone.

10Why people enjoy Spider Solitaire

Spider has a rhythm that other solitaire games lack. Most of the time you are making small, quiet improvements: turning a card, joining two cards of one suit, opening a column. Then a whole run falls into place, thirteen cards fly off the table, and the board suddenly looks lighter. That cycle of slow tidying and sudden release is why many players find it relaxing.

It also forgives mistakes better than most card games. Because Undo is unlimited, you can treat every move as an experiment. If you want more card games for a quiet evening, see our list of the best free card games to play with family online, and if you want to sharpen the same skills in a different game, read our Klondike Solitaire strategy guide.

A good habit is to play one 1-suit game to warm up, then a 2-suit game when you feel confident. Keep notes if you like: how many deals you used, how many runs you finished, and where the game went wrong. After a few games the same patterns start to show up, and spotting them is half the skill.

11Scoring and daily play

Your score starts at 500, loses 1 for each move and gains 100 for each finished run. Fewer moves mean a higher score, but the main goal is simply to win. Each day there is a shared daily deal, in whichever number of suits you pick, so you can compare with friends. Your statistics are kept in your browser and your game is saved after each move.

If you enjoy this, try the other solitaire games on PlayNest: Solitaire (Klondike), with the strategy guide Klondike Solitaire strategy, and FreeCell, where every card is visible from the start.