How to Play Tarantula Solitaire

A friendlier take on Spider where matching color, not matching suit, is enough to move a sequence together. Build each tableau pile into a full King-to-Ace run and send it to the foundations.

Setup

1. Shuffle two decks and deal cards face-down and face-up across 10 tableau piles in a custom pattern
2. Some cards start face-down and will flip face-up as the cards above them move away
3. The stock holds remaining cards; it deals one card to each tableau pile at a time, but only when no pile is empty

How to play

• Build tableau piles down by rank (one lower) in any suit
• Move sequences together only when they're the same color (both red or both black)
• Click the stock to deal one card to each tableau pile, but only when no pile is empty
• Fill empty piles with any card or sequence
• When a tableau pile holds a complete run of all 13 ranks in order from King down to Ace (any suit), move it to the foundations

How to win

Objective: Turn every tableau pile into one ordered run from King down to Ace, mixing suits freely. You can move a same-color sequence as a group, and a finished run can go to the foundations.

You win once every tableau pile has been arranged into one complete run from King down to Ace, mixing suits — sending finished runs to the foundations is optional, not required to win. You're stuck if you can't complete any more moves and the stock is used up.

Tips

• Focus on uncovering face-down cards in the deeper piles early—they're your key to progress
• Create same-color sequences before trying to move between piles
• Save empty spaces for critical moves; don't fill them carelessly

Play Tarantula free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Tarantula 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:

• 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.
• Spider — 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.
• 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.