How to Play Spider Solitaire

Ten tableau piles let you stack cards downward in rank no matter their suit, but a run only travels as a group when every card in it shares one suit. Finish a King-to-Ace run in a single suit and you can move it to a foundation pile.

Setup

1. Two standard decks shuffle together (104 cards)
2. 10 tableau piles are dealt with only the top card face up: the first 4 piles get 6 cards each, the remaining 6 piles get 5 cards each
3. Remaining 50 cards form the stock
4. 8 foundation piles wait empty

How to play

• On the tableau, place any card one rank lower than the card below it, any suit
• Move groups of cards together only if they form a sequence in the same suit
• Draw from the stock to add one new card to every tableau pile, but only when none of them are empty
• Complete 13-card runs from King down to Ace in the same suit, then move that run to a foundation pile
• Create empty tableau piles strategically to rearrange cards more freely
• Continue dealing and moving until every tableau pile is arranged into an ordered run, moving completed runs to the foundations as you go

How to win

Objective: Arrange every tableau pile into one ordered run from King down to Ace; completed runs can then be moved to the foundations.

You win when every tableau pile is arranged into one ordered run, with completed runs moved to the foundations. The game is stuck if you can't move cards and can't deal from the stock.

Tips

• Expose hidden cards in the tableau by clearing piles in front of them
• Build suit sequences whenever possible—mixed suits block later moves
• Don't waste empty piles; use them strategically to rearrange stuck cards

Play Spider free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Spider 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 Spider family:

• Spider Three Deck — This variant scales Spider up to three shuffled decks and twelve tableau piles, giving you a longer haul toward filling twelve suit-ordered foundations.
• Tarantula — A friendlier take on Spider where matching color, not matching suit, is enough to move a sequence together.
• Big Spider — This oversized Spider deals three decks across 13 tableau piles, most cards face down.
• Black Widow — This friendlier take on Spider uses two decks and lets you move tableau sequences even when their suits are mixed.
• Chinese Spider — A three-suit Spider where you build long runs on the tableau and complete sequences go to the foundations.