How to Play Klondike (One Card) Solitaire

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

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 1 card (not 3) 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 pile.
• When an Ace appears, move it to the foundations and build up by suit.
• 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). One-card draw is much harder than the standard three-card version, since you can't skip past cards you don't need yet.

Tips

• Plan multiple moves ahead since you see fewer cards at once.
• Expose face-down cards in the tableau carefully—they become more critical with limited visibility.
• Use empty columns strategically; they're your only way to rearrange cards when stock cards don't help.

Play Klondike (One Card) free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Klondike (One Card) 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:

• 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.
• Klondike — The classic solitaire played worldwide.