How to Play Chinese Klondike Solitaire

A three-suit adaptation of Klondike using four decks. The reduced suit count creates faster moves and slightly more forgiving play than classic Klondike.

Setup

1. Shuffle four decks and deal 78 cards into a pyramid across 12 tableau piles: 1 card to the first pile, 2 to the second, and so on; only the top card of each pile is dealt face up
2. The remaining 78 cards form the stock in your hand; deal 3 cards at a time to the waste
3. Sixteen foundations sit ready for the Aces to arrive

How to play

• Deal 3 cards from the stock to the waste pile
• Play the top waste card onto a tableau pile, building down onto a card of a different suit
• Move sequences from the tableau as a unit when each card is one rank lower and the opposite color
• Move playable cards to their foundations, building up by suit from Ace
• An empty tableau pile can only be filled by a King
• When the stock runs out, click it again to redeal the waste—unlimited passes
• Cards automatically move to the foundations once they can no longer help in the tableau (you can change this behavior in Settings)

How to win

Objective: Build all sixteen foundation piles from Ace to King in suit

All 156 cards reach the foundations by building up from Ace to King in each suit. The game ends in defeat if you run out of moves before the stock and waste are exhausted.

Tips

• Expose tableau cards early by using the waste pile strategically
• Stack long sequences to move multiple cards at once and clear tableau space
• Remember you can redeal, so don't rush—take time to plan complex moves

Play Chinese Klondike free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Chinese Klondike alongside 300+ other games. It saves every move as you play, so you can close the window and pick the game up later, replay any deal, and take on a new Daily Challenge deal every day. Browse every game in the Game Gallery.

Related games

More games from the Klondike family:

• Double Klondike — Double Klondike scales up the familiar Klondike shape to two shuffled-together decks, nine tableau piles, and eight foundations, with unlimited redeals to keep working through the stock.
• Endless Harp — A two-deck Klondike-like game with unlimited redeals.
• Insane Klondike — A Klondike-style solitaire pushed to an outrageous scale: 32 complete decks (1,664 cards) spread across 52 tableau piles and 128 foundation piles.
• Junction — Build long sequences in alternating colors on just seven tableau piles using a four-deck piquet deck (no ranks below 7).
• Milligan Harp — Build eight foundations using two decks while managing eight tableau piles dealt in a pyramid pattern (1 card to the first pile, 2 to the second, and so on).