Spider Solitaire spins a grander web than most patiences: two full decks, ten columns, and the singular goal of assembling complete runs from King down to Ace. Build a suit run in full and it lifts clean off the table; clear all eight and you have tamed the spider.
It is a game of open manoeuvring and long planning, more demanding than Klondike yet deeply satisfying once its rhythm is learned. Play free in your browser — no download, no signup — with unlimited undo, hints and full-screen.
How to play Spider Solitaire
Spider is dealt from two decks — one hundred and four cards — across ten columns. The first four columns receive six cards each and the remaining six columns five, with only the top card of every column turned face-up. The fifty leftover cards form the stock, dealt ten at a time across the whole board.
You build downward in the tableau regardless of colour — any nine may sit on any ten. The prize, however, goes to sequences of a single suit: when you assemble a full same-suit run from King to Ace, it is removed from play. There are eight such runs to clear in all. You may move a partial in-suit sequence as a unit, but a mixed-suit run must be shifted one card at a time. When you run out of moves you may deal a new row from the stock — but note the rule of the court: every column must hold at least one card before a fresh deal is allowed. Difficulty scales with the number of suits: one suit is the gentle introduction, two a true contest, and four the full royal trial.
Spider Solitaire strategy & tips
Success at Spider comes from keeping your options open. Wherever you can, build in-suit rather than merely building down — a black nine on a black ten preserves the chance of a clean run, while a red nine on that same ten may block it. Order matters, so think before you commit each card.
Guard your empty columns jealously; a free column is the most valuable asset on the board, letting you unpack a tangled pile, reorder a sequence or park a card while you dig for what lies beneath. Turn over face-down cards at every opportunity, since hidden cards are the true obstacle. Before dealing a new row from the stock, make every useful move first — a fresh deal covers all ten columns and can bury sequences you were close to completing. On the two- and four-suit games, patience and undo are your allies: a stalled board is often only a few reversed moves away from a breakthrough.
One suit, two suits or four?
Spider Solitaire is unusual in offering its own difficulty dial. In the single-suit game every card is a spade, so any descending run is automatically a suited run — it is the ideal place to learn the flow of the board and the value of empty columns. It rewards clear thinking and is winnable far more often than not.
The two-suit game introduces genuine friction: now you must keep colours and suits apart while still building down, and a careless move can strand a card in the wrong pile. The four-suit game is the full royal trial, prized by seasoned players for its depth. We suggest earning your stripes on one suit, graduating to two, then testing your mettle at four — and turning to FreeCell when you want a puzzle where every card is on view from the start.