How to Play Solitaire Card Game: Rules and Strategy

Are you ready to leap into one of the most popular card games? In this game, you play single-handedly and arrange all your cards into foundation piles. If you are just starting to play this single-player card game, then you must be familiar with how to play solitaire with cards and the rules before you start.

Klondike Solitaire is the most popular version of this single-player card game, which you can play online or offline. The goal of this game is to move all the cards into the foundation piles and sequence them into the tableau.

Solitaire Rules 

Let us get familiar with the basic rules for solitaire.

• The goal of the game is to move all cards to four foundation piles sorted in ascending order from Ace to King.
• The game of Solitaire uses a standard deck of 52 cards.
• The cards in the game are arranged in seven columns called tableau. The first column has one card, the second two, and so on, until the last column has seven cards.
• In the game, only the top card of each tableau column is face up; the rest of the cards are kept face down.
• The remaining cards from the deck are called stock and placed face down in the corner.
• Cards are drawn from the stock one at a time and placed face up in the waste.
• When you use cards from the deck, only the top card of the three can be played. Any time a card is played the one underneath it is then fair game.
• Foundation piles are built in ascending order, starting with an Ace. Each pile must be built by suit, i.e., hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades.
• A card can be moved to another pile in the tableau if it is the next lower rank and of the opposite color.
• An empty tableau column can easily be filled with a King, and multiple cards can be moved together if they are in the proper sequence.
• If no valid moves are left in the tableau cards, then you can draw from the stockpile.
• If the stock is empty you can recycle the waste pile back into the active stock.
• When all reserve cards have been turned over, the entire stack can be turned back face down and reused.
• The game is won when all the cards are placed into the four piles in the correct order.
• The game ends when no more moves are possible and all cards are in the tableau or foundation piles.
• All tableau piles must be arranged in descending order and in alternate colors.
• Aces must be the first starting point for building the foundation piles. 

How to Play Solitaire Game?

We will now learn about the solitaire game, its objectives, setup, gameplay, winning conditions, and more. 

The Setup

Solitaire Card games are played with a standard deck of 52 cards having four suits: diamond, spades, club, and heart. There are four major piles in Solitaire Card games. Let us familiarize ourselves with the solitaire setup first.

• The Tableau: This is the main area of the Solitaire card game, which is made of up to seven columns of 28 cards laid out from the left to the right. The first column starts with one card, the second with two cards, and we keep adding one card in all subsequent columns until we reach the seventh column. The last card in each column is kept face up, while the other cards are kept face down.
• The Stockpile: The remaining 24 cards in the Solitaire game board are placed face down in the stockpile of cards where players can draw from 1 card at a time when they run out of moves in the tableau.
• The Waste Pile: The cards player flips from the stockpile and moves face up into the waste pile. Players can use the revealed face cards to make moves in the game.
• The Foundation Piles: In this type of pile, there are four piles in which you arrange your cards into four suits. Each pile is organized by suit, and cards are placed in ascending order in the game, starting with the Ace and ending on the King.

The Objective

The first objective in the game is to play and release all positions to build up the foundation pile in ascending order following the sequence and in suit, starting from the ace to the King. The main goal is to build the whole pack into the foundation pile, and the player who does it first wins the game.

Rank of Cards

The Ranking of all cards in the Solitaire game, starting with highest to lowest, is: King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low)

The Deal

The deals in the Solitaire card game are arranged based on the type of piles; let's learn more about this.

• The Tableau: In the Tableau pile, seven piles are dealt with a different number of cards in each turn. The first pile starts with one card, and then one card is added to each subsequent pile until the seventh pile has seven cards.
• Foundation Piles: The foundation piles contain four empty piles, which must be filled in ascending order by following the card suit.
• Stock Pile: The remaining cards from the tableau are placed in the stockpile, which is placed in a corner in the game. It helps in making moves and grabbing cards when no moves are possible.
• Waste Pile: When you draw cards from the stock, they are placed face-up in the waste pile. If you cannot use the current card, you can draw a new one or make a move based on the waste pile.

When you form the tableau, you will have seven piles to create it. Starting from the first place, the first card is kept face up, and dealing is done with one card face down for the next six piles. You will start again from the left side to the right and place one card face up on the second pile and deal one card face down on piles continuing from three to the seventh pile. Go again until the seventh pile has one card facing up on the top of a pile of six cards facing down. 

The remaining cards from the deck are placed above the tableau, and when starting the foundations, the waste pile remains empty. They are given cards during the ongoing game.

Gameplay

In the initial phase, you have to transfer cards among the face-up cards in Tableau. Certain cards can be played at once, while others may not be played until certain blocking cards are removed first.

When you transfer cards in the tableau, the game begins building proper sequences. The foundation pile begins to build, starting in the sequential order from ace to king. Make sure you continue transferring cards on top of each other in the tableau, following the sequence.

You can use stockpile cards if you cannot move your face-up cards in the game. Make sure you use the stockpile card by flipping over the first card. The deal starts with the tableau piles, where the first pile starts with one card. 

When space is created by removing cards elsewhere in the game, it is called “space,” and it plays a major role in manipulating the tableau. You must remember that when a space is created in the tableau then it can only be filled in with a King.

When you start filling with the king, it unblocks one of the face-down cards in the other pile in the tableau. You start with four foundation piles at the top right. You can build your cards from Ace to King in ascending order. 

You can move cards between tableau pies and place them in descending order only. Also, the colors must alternate. Make sure you do not move cards from the foundation piles frequently unless they are ready. 

Continue transferring cards in the tableau and moving them from the stock pile until all the cards are kept in proper sequence in the foundation pile.

The Winning 

Players have to move their cards to the foundation pile, and the player who does it first in sequential order from Ace to King becomes the winner of the game.

Strategies & Tips to Win Solitaire Game

Let's familiarize ourselves with some of the smart tips and solitaire strategies for winning the solitaire game, especially if you are a beginner.

• Make sure you expose face-down cards as early as possible. The more cards you have access to, the more options you will have with fewer and fewer face-down cards.
• It is advised to start moving from left to right, as it is better to work from the leftmost tableau column to the right.
• It is advised that you move cards to the foundation piles as early as possible, especially with cards that cannot be played anywhere else in the game. This will help you get more space for further moves.
• Do not rush to move cards to the foundation, as some cards might be used in other effective moves in the game.
• Do not always move kings to the empty columns, as it might hamper other moves in the game. It is advised that you put the King in empty columns unless necessary.
• Make sure you check out the tableau piles before you make a move in the game. Always check the tableau with the cards face up in the waste pile to assess the moves you make.
• Try to use your aces and 2s right away in the initial stage of the game. You can move them into the foundation piles as soon as possible.
• Try to move the larger tableau columns with more face-down cards you might need in the game. It is important to reveal these cards as fast as possible to give shorter tableau columns with fewer cards the chance.
• You have to use the face-up cards kept in the tableau first before you move them to the foundation piles. Make sure that you cannot use the following cards in your sequence before moving them to the foundation pile.
• You can use cards from the foundation piles if you want more options in the game.
• You must use the hint or undo button to reset or undo a move that you do not want.

How to Play Solitaire Variations

Let us now get familiar with certain popular variations of the Solitaire game below.

1. Freecell Solitaire 

This is known to be one of the hardest versions of solitaire where the objective is to make a stack of each suit in descending order. Deal all the cards in 8 piles, with 4 having 7 cards and four having 6. Make sure you do not use any cards from the reserve deck. You can only play the top card of each pile but you can place the top card into one of the reserve spaces where you can play beneath it.

2. Forty Thieves Solitaire 

The Forty Thieves Solitaire is a normal solitaire game considered better for beginners where the main objective is to make a stack for each suit in descending order. You have to deal 10 rows of cards with four cards in each pile, all face up in the deck. 

You are allowed to move only the top card from each row at a time. Play the cards in the reserve deck at the same time. 

3. Golf Solitaire

Golf Solitaire objective is to play all cards placed face up in the seven piles rather than create a four suit stack. Make sure you deal out seven piles with five cards in each stack, and all cards should be face up. Make sure you continue playing cards until you have either played all the face-up cards or you cannot make any more moves in the game.

4. Pyramid Solitaire 

The objective of the Pyramid Solitaire game is to remove all the cards in the pyramid and reserve piles and place them in the discard pile by creating pairs that equal 13 points. Each row must overlap the previous row and create a reserve pile with the remaining cards. When no cards can be compiled into pairs the next reserve card is flipped over. You need to return them to the reserve pile so you can keep removing cards from the pyramid.

5. Spider Solitaire

The Spider Solitaire game uses two decks in the game with 10 piles having six cards each. You must keep only the top card of each pile face up and the rest of the cards must be placed in the reserve deck. The main objective is to create descending card sequences of the same suit, starting from King to Ace, within the 10 piles. The game ends when all the eight foundation squares in the game are filled.

6. Klondike Solitaire

Klondike Solitaire is a card game best suited for one player and is a popular variant of Solitaire that can be played with family and friends. This variant is played by arranging cards in seven piles, each increasing in size from one to seven cards. Only the top card is kept face up in the game. 

Move cards between piles in descending order and alternating colors to uncover hidden cards in the game. Build four foundation piles for one suit each from Ace to King. You can draw from the stockpile when no more moves are available on the tableau.