Last Updated on June 25, 2026 by The Official Game Rules Team

Spider Solitaire is a challenging and popular variation of Solitaire, played with two standard 52-card decks, making up a total of 104 cards. The goal of the game is to arrange all the cards into complete sequences from King to Ace in descending order, by suit. The game is played in ten tableau piles, and cards are moved between piles following the rules of descending order and alternating colors. Players can only move a sequence of cards in order, and must build foundation piles by suit to win. The game ends when all cards are organized into complete sequences or when no more moves are possible.

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How to Play Spider Solitaire

What You Need

2 standard 52-card decks (104 cards total)
1 player
A flat surface

Objective of the Game

Your goal is to create complete sequences of 13 cards in the same suit, starting from King and ending at Ace.

Every time you complete a full suit sequence, it is removed from the board. You win the game if you manage to clear all eight suits.

Setup

To begin, deal 10 piles of cards in a row.

Each pile contains 5 cards:

The top card of each pile is face up
The four cards underneath are face down

This creates your starting tableau of columns, where most of the game will take place.

How to Play

You can move cards around the tableau to build descending sequences (King → Ace). However, the rules for moving cards depend on whether they are part of a valid sequence.

Only the top face-up card of a pile can be moved, along with any cards stacked beneath it that form a valid descending sequence in the same suit.

For example, if a column shows a sequence like 9♠ → 8♠ → 7♠, you can move all three together. You could also choose to move just the 9♠ or 9♠–8♠ and leave the rest behind.

Building Sequences

You build down in rank:
King → Queen → Jack → 10 → 9 → … → Ace

Suits must match when building full sequences you intend to move together. However, in some moves, partial sequences can be rearranged strategically to uncover hidden cards.

When you clear all face-up cards from a pile, the top face-down card is flipped over and becomes playable.

Empty Spaces

If a pile becomes completely empty, it creates a space. Any card or valid sequence can be moved into an empty space.

Kings are especially important because they can only be placed into empty spaces—so freeing up space often becomes a key strategy.

Dealing New Cards

When you can’t or choose not to make more moves, you deal a new row of 10 cards—one onto each pile, face up.

However, you can only deal new cards if there are no empty spaces on the board.

The final deal in the game consists of only 4 cards, placed onto the first four piles.

How to Win

You win by completing all eight full suit sequences (King to Ace) and removing them from play.

If no more moves are possible and not all suits are completed, the game ends and you lose—but Spider Solitaire is all about trying again and improving your strategy over time.

Notes/Strategy

Difficulty: Spider Solitaire is a more challenging Patience variation compared to Klondike Solitaire. With two decks and more complex building requirements, it requires strategic planning and good card movement.
Variations: There are a few variations of Spider Solitaire with different difficulty levels:
- One Suit: Easiest version, using only Spades cards (52 cards).
- Two Suits: Medium difficulty, using Spades and Hearts (104 cards).
- Four Suits: Most challenging version, using all four suits (104 cards).
Tips: Focus on creating empty spaces, prioritize building longer sequences, and avoid unnecessary movement of cards.
Patience and Planning: As the name suggests, patience and strategic planning are key to winning Spider Solitaire. Don’t get discouraged if it takes time to master – the satisfaction of completing the eight sequences is worth the challenge!