Solitaire guide: the rules of Klondike

Klondike is the game most people mean when they say “solitaire”: one player and one deck of 52 cards, without jokers. You win when every card lies on one of the four foundations, each built in one suit from the ace up to the king.

The deal

A new game deals 28 cards into seven columns: one card in the first column, two in the second, and so on up to seven. Only the last card of each column is face up. The other 24 cards are the stock, face down in the top left corner. Beside it is the place of the waste pile, and then come the four foundations, empty at first and marked with an A.

Moves on the table

Columns are built down in alternating colours. A black 7 goes on a red 8, a red queen on a black king.
A run moves as one. Face-up cards that lie in order can be moved together, the whole run or its lower part, if the first card of what you move fits the card it lands on.
A card that is uncovered turns over. When the last card of a column is face down, the game turns it face up.
Only a king goes to an empty column, alone or with the run that hangs from it. The empty place is marked with a K.
Foundations are built up by suit, one card at a time: ace, 2, 3 and on to the king.
A card can come back. The top card of a foundation may be moved to a column again, if it fits there.

The stock and the waste pile

When the table offers no move you want, click the stock. This page is Turn 1, also called draw 1: each click turns one card face up onto the waste pile, and the top card of the waste pile can be played to a column or to a foundation. When the stock is empty, click its place to turn the waste pile over and go through it again. The game sets no limit on these passes. Every draw and every turn of the waste pile is counted as a move.

In the other mode a click turns three cards and only the top one can be played, which is a harder game: Play Turn 3 (draw three) solitaire.

How to move the cards

Click or tap a card and it goes where it fits: to a foundation if one takes it, otherwise to a column.
Drag a card or a run with the mouse or a finger and drop it on a pile. While the cards are in your hand, the piles that will take them are marked with a ring.

There is no score to chase. The game counts two things, your time and your moves. The clock starts with your first move and Pause stops it.

Undo, Hint and Finish game

Undo takes the last move back, and the one before it, as far as the deal. An undo is counted as a move itself.
Hint lights up a move you can make: a card that goes to a foundation, or else a card that goes to another column, or else the stock. It moves nothing and costs no moves. When it finds nothing, the game asks whether you are stuck and offers a new game.
Restart puts the same deal back to its start. New game shuffles a new one.
Finish game appears when the stock and the waste pile are empty and no card in the columns is face down. From there the game cannot be lost, and one click plays the remaining cards to the foundations. Those moves are counted like your own.

What the game keeps for you

Your game. A game with a move in it is saved on your device as you play, with its time, its moves and its Undo history. Close the page and it is on the table when you return, paused until your next move. Turn 1 and Turn 3 each keep a game of their own.
Your best results. The fastest time and the fewest moves of your wins are kept for each mode, and a win that beats one of them is marked as a record.
Your table. There are eight colour themes for the table, and the one you choose is remembered.

All of it lives in the storage of your browser, not in an account, so it stays on this device and in this browser. Clearing the data of the site erases it.

Free, online, and nothing to download

The game is free and runs in the browser of a computer, a tablet or a phone. There is no download, no sign-up and no email to give. If your browser installs web apps, you can add the game to your home screen or desktop, and it then opens in a window of its own. Once the browser has kept its files, this page opens without a connection.

Tips for playing Klondike

Turn over the hidden cards first. Between two moves, prefer the one that uncovers a face-down card. The columns on the right hide the most: six cards lie face down in the seventh.
Look at the table before you draw. A move between columns may open a card, and a draw never does.
Do not empty a column without a king for it. Nothing else can go there, and an empty column you cannot fill is a column you no longer use.
Do not hurry every card to the foundations. A low card in a column may be what the next card of the other colour needs to land on. If you sent it too early, bring it back.
Use Undo to look ahead. Try a line of play, and take it back if it leads nowhere. It costs moves, never the game.

More about Klondike solitaire

Articles on the game itself, its rules, its odds and its words:

How to play solitaire — the rules of Klondike from the deal to the last king.
How to set up solitaire — dealing the seven piles with a real deck, card by card.
Turn 1 vs Turn 3 solitaire — what drawing one card or three does to the game.
Solitaire strategy — habits that win more deals, from the opening to the stock.
Is every solitaire game winnable? — what the research says about the odds.
Solitaire terms — a glossary, from tableau and foundation to talon and redeal.

Questions and answers

Is Ace to King Solitaire free?

Yes. Every game is free to play, in both modes, and there is nothing to buy and no account to pay for.

Do I need to download anything or sign up?

No. The game runs in the browser: open the page and the cards are dealt. There is no account, no form and no email to give.

Can I install the game, and does it work offline?

A browser that installs web apps (Chrome and Edge do) offers to add the game to your home screen or desktop, and it then opens in a window of its own. Once the browser has kept the files of the game, the home page with the Turn 1 game opens without a connection. The Turn 3 page may still ask for one.

What is the difference between Turn 1 and Turn 3?

It is how the stock is dealt. In Turn 1 (draw 1) a click turns one card onto the waste pile, so every card of the stock can be played on each pass. In Turn 3 (draw 3) a click turns three cards and only the top one can be played, which makes it the harder game. Everything else is the same, and each mode is a page of its own with its own saved game and its own best results.

Is every game winnable?

No. Every new game is a random shuffle of the 52 cards, and the game does not check that a deal can be won. Some deals of Klondike cannot be solved whatever you do, and others are lost by one wrong choice. When a game is stuck, Undo takes moves back, Restart deals the same cards again and New game shuffles new ones.

Is my game saved if I close the page?

Yes, once it has a move in it. The game is kept in the storage of your browser, one game for Turn 1 and one for Turn 3, and is on the table again when you come back, with its time, its moves and its Undo history. It stays on this device and in this browser, and clearing the data of the site erases it.

How do I undo a move?

Press Undo. It takes the last move back, and you can press it again and again, all the way to the deal. Each press is counted in Moves. Restart puts the same deal back to its start in one step.

Does it work on a phone or a tablet?

Yes. The table fits the screen of a phone, upright or on its side, of a tablet and of a computer. Tap a card to send it where it goes, or drag it with a finger.

About Ace to King Solitaire

Ace to King Solitaire is a free Klondike solitaire that runs in your browser, with two ways to draw and nothing to download. There is more on the About page, and bug reports and ideas are welcome at hello@acetoking.com.