Spider Solitaire
Two decks, ten columns, eight runs to build. Start on 1 suit and work up to the full 4-suit game — with unlimited undo, no ads and no sign-in.
Build columns downward. Same-suit runs move together.
Drag a card or run to move it — or click a card then its destination · Click the stock to deal a new row · Unlimited undo.
Like it? Take it offline.
Spider Solitaire is one of 23 games in Snackpack Brain Games Vol 3 — our calm, ad-free Android bundle of chess, strategy and pen-and-paper logic puzzles.
- Plays fully offline — flights, commutes, anywhere
- Best times & daily streaks saved on your device
- 22 more games in the same app · no ads, no tracking
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How to play Spider Solitaire
Spider Solitaire is played with two full decks — 104 cards — spread across ten columns. Fifty-four cards are dealt to start (the first four columns get six cards, the rest get five), with the bottom card of each column face up. The remaining fifty sit in the stock, ready to be dealt in five rows of ten.
Your goal is to build eight complete runs, each going from King down to Ace in a single suit. Every time you finish one, it lifts off the board automatically. Clear all eight and you've won.
Within the columns you build downward by rank, and for a single card the suit doesn't matter — a red nine will happily sit on any ten. The catch is moving more than one card at a time: a group only moves if it's the same suit and in unbroken descending order. That single rule is what makes the 2-suit and 4-suit games so much harder than the 1-suit game. An empty column will accept any card or any valid run, which makes empty columns the most valuable thing on the board.
When you run out of moves, click the stock to deal one fresh card onto every column. You can only do this when no column is empty, so don't leave a gap you can't fill before you deal.
Strategy tips
- Uncover face-down cards before anything else. Every hidden card you flip is a new option; a tidy board with nothing turned over is a dead end.
- Guard your empty columns. An empty column is the only place you can park an awkward card or reorder a mixed-suit pile. Don't fill one just because you can.
- Prefer same-suit joins. Putting a nine of spades on a ten of spades keeps the run portable. Dropping it on a ten of hearts works now but freezes both cards later.
- Deal only when genuinely stuck. Each deal drops a card onto every column, including ones you had in neat order — it will bury good work.
- Start on 1 suit. The one-suit game teaches the shape of the endgame. Two suits roughly doubles the difficulty; four suits is a serious puzzle with a win rate well under a third even for strong players.
A little history
Spider is a two-deck patience game documented in card-game books from the early 20th century, and its name is usually explained by the eight foundation runs — one for each of a spider's legs. It reached a mass audience in 1998, when Microsoft shipped it with the Windows 98 Plus! pack and later bundled it with Windows itself, where its 1-suit mode introduced a great many people to the game.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Spider Solitaire free?
Yes — it plays free in your browser with no ads, no sign-in, and nothing to install.
What's the difference between 1, 2 and 4 suits?
All three use 104 cards. The 1-suit game uses eight sets of spades, so any descending run can move as a group. The 2-suit game mixes spades and hearts, and the 4-suit game uses all four — which means far fewer of your runs are portable, and far more planning is needed.
Why can't I move a group of cards?
Groups only move when every card in them is the same suit and in unbroken descending order. A run like 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ moves as one; 9♠ 8♥ 7♠ does not.
Why won't the stock deal?
Spider won't deal a new row while any column is empty. Move a card into the gap first, then deal.
Is every game winnable?
Not always. Deals are shuffled at random rather than filtered for solvability, which is how the game is traditionally played — the 1-suit game is winnable the great majority of the time, the 4-suit game much less often.
Can I play offline?
The web version needs an open browser tab. For fully offline play with saved best times, install the free Snackpack Brain Games Vol 3 app on Android.
