How to Play Klondike Solitaire

The classic solitaire played worldwide. Deal cards three at a time from the stock, build tableau piles down in alternating colors, and work toward moving all cards to four foundations by suit.

Setup

1. Deal the tableau in seven columns: 1 card to the first pile, 2 to the second, continuing to 7 cards in the seventh.
2. Only the top card of each pile is face-up; others remain face-down until exposed.
3. Place four empty foundation piles to the side.
4. Keep the remaining cards as the stock.

How to play

• Click the stock to deal 3 cards to the waste pile.
• Build tableau piles downward in alternating colors (red on black, black on red).
• Move sequences together—all face-up cards in a valid sequence can move as a unit to another tableau pile.
• Cards automatically move to the foundations when they no longer have playable cards to build on them (you can change this in Settings).
• Empty tableau columns can only be filled with a King or a sequence starting with a King.
• When the stock is empty, click it again to turn the waste back over—you have unlimited passes.

How to win

Objective: Move all 52 cards to the four foundations by suit, starting with Aces.

All four foundation piles complete (Ace through King in each suit). Not every deal can be won, but many are with careful play.

Tips

• Expose face-down cards in the tableau as soon as possible—they often hold crucial cards.
• Avoid burying low cards in deep tableau sequences; keep Aces and Deuces accessible.
• Use empty columns strategically to rearrange sequences; they are valuable real estate.

Play Klondike free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes 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:

• Klondike (One Card) — A variation of Klondike where you draw one card at a time from the stock instead of three, making the game significantly harder but more strategic.
• Smokey — A Klondike variant with a key difference: you build tableau sequences in the same color instead of alternating colors.
• Trigon — This Klondike relative asks you to build tableau runs in a single suit instead of alternating colors, but makes up for the tighter rule by letting you turn the waste over and deal through it as many times as you need.
• Whitehorse — A streamlined Klondike variation with a smaller tableau that makes the game more accessible.