What is the objective of Klondike Solitaire?

The goal is to move all 52 cards onto the four foundation piles. Each foundation collects one suit and is built up in order from the Ace to the King. Complete all four suits and you win.

How is a Klondike Solitaire board set up?

Twenty-eight cards are dealt into seven tableau columns — one card in the first column, two in the second, and so on up to seven in the last. Only the bottom card of each column starts face up. The remaining 24 cards form the stock, which you draw from during play.

How do you move cards in Solitaire?

Build tableau columns downward in alternating colours — a red six on a black seven, a black five on a red six. Send cards to a foundation to build each suit upward from the Ace. Only a King, or a run led by a King, may move into an empty column.

What is the difference between Turn 1 and Turn 3?

Turn 1 and Turn 3 decide how many cards you draw from the stock at once. In Turn 1 cards come off one at a time, so every card is reachable — the friendlier game. In Turn 3 cards are dealt three at a time and only the top one is immediately playable, which makes for a tougher puzzle.

Can every game of Solitaire be won?

No. Some random Klondike shuffles are dead ends no matter how well you play. With the “Winnable games only” option switched on, every deal is guaranteed to have at least one solution, so a loss is always down to the moves you chose.

How to Play Klondike Solitaire

A beginner's guide — no experience needed.

Klondike is the game most people mean when they say “Solitaire” — the one that came with Windows and turned a coffee break into a quiet little puzzle. You play on your own with a single 52-card deck, and the whole game is a race to sort every card into four tidy, ordered piles. It takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master. This guide walks you through it from the very beginning, one step at a time.

Rather learn with the cards in front of you? Start a Turn 1 game — the one-card draw is the gentler version to learn on, and the rest of this guide will make more sense once you have a board to look at.

The goal of the game

Your one aim is to move all 52 cards onto the four foundations — the four empty spaces in the top-right of the board. Each foundation is for a single suit and is built upward in order, starting with the Ace and finishing with the King: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King. Fill all four foundations and you have won the game. Everything else you do is just a way of freeing the cards you need to get them there.

The parts of the board

When a new game is dealt, the cards are arranged into four kinds of pile. It helps to know each one by name:

The tableau — the seven columns of cards across the main part of the board. This is your working area, where most of the game happens.
The stock — the face-down pile in the top-left. When you run out of moves, you draw from here.
The waste — the face-up pile next to the stock. Cards you draw from the stock land here, and the top one is always ready to play.
The foundations — the four spaces in the top-right where you build each suit up from Ace to King. Finishing these is how you win.

How the board is set up

Twenty-eight cards are dealt into the seven tableau columns — one card in the first column, two in the second, three in the third, and so on up to seven cards in the last column. Only the bottom card of each column starts face up; the rest are face down and hidden until you uncover them. The 24 cards left over form the stock in the top-left. The foundations begin empty.

The rules for moving cards

There are only a handful of rules, and they are all about building neat sequences. Here they are in full:

Build the tableau downward in alternating colours. A card can be placed on another that is one rank higher and the opposite colour — a red six goes on a black seven, a black five goes on a red six, and so on down the line.
Move one card, or a whole ordered run, at a time. If several face-up cards are already stacked in the correct down-and-alternating order, you can pick them up and move them together as a group.
Build the foundations upward by suit. Send a card to a foundation as soon as it fits — Aces first, then the 2 of the same suit, then the 3, all the way to the King.
Only a King fills an empty column. When a tableau column is emptied, only a King — or a run led by a King — may be moved into the gap.
Uncover face-down cards to flip them. When you move the face-up cards off a column and reveal the face-down card beneath, it turns face up and is ready to play.

Drawing from the stock

When you can't find a move on the board, tap the stock pile in the top-left. Cards move from the stock to the waste, and the top card of the waste becomes playable — you can send it to a foundation or build it onto a tableau column. Keep drawing to cycle through the stock. When the stock is empty, tapping it again turns the waste back over so you can go through it once more.

Turn 1 vs Turn 3 — what's the difference?

The Turn 1 and Turn 3 buttons control how many cards you draw from the stock at a time, and they change how hard the game is:

Turn 1 draws one card at a time. Every card in the stock is reachable, so far more deals can be won. This is the friendlier, higher-winning way to play and the best place to learn.
Turn 3 draws three cards at a time, and only the top of the three is immediately playable. To reach the cards underneath you have to cycle the stock, which takes more planning. It's the classic, tougher game.

You can switch modes whenever you like — each switch deals a fresh game. Prefer a dedicated table? Play Turn 1 Solitaire or Turn 3 Solitaire on their own pages.

Can every game be won?

Not every random shuffle can be won — some deals are dead ends no matter how well you play. If you'd rather every game be beatable, turn on “Winnable games only” in Settings and every deal we hand you is guaranteed to have at least one solution. A loss is then always down to the moves you chose, not the luck of the shuffle.

Your first few moves

A gentle way to start any game: look for an Ace or a 2 that is face up and send it straight to the foundations. Then look for a move that lets you flip a face-down card — every card you uncover opens up new possibilities. When the board goes quiet, draw from the stock and see what turns up. That's the whole rhythm of the game: free your buried cards, build your sequences, and feed the foundations.

Where to go next

Ready to play? Start a game on the main Klondike table, or try the easier Turn 1 game. When you want to win more often, read our Solitaire strategy tips. If a word on the board is unfamiliar, the Solitaire glossary explains every term in plain English. And when you fancy a shared puzzle, everyone plays the same hand in the Game of the Day.

Go deeper on one idea

Each of these takes a single part of the game and explains it properly. They are the next thing to read once the rules above make sense.

Turn 1 vs Turn 3 — how the draw rule changes your odds and the way you play.
How often can you win? — winnable versus won, and why your real rate is lower than the odds.
Empty columns and Kings — the highest-leverage move on the board, and how not to waste it.
Reading the board — planning your opening before you touch a card.