How to Play Klondike Solitaire
Last reviewed on 2026-10-03
Klondike is the game most people simply call “Solitaire” (or “Patience” in the UK). It uses one standard 52-card deck, and the goal is to move every card onto four foundation piles, one per suit, built up from Ace to King.
The layout
- Tableau: seven columns. The first column has 1 card, the second 2, and so on up to 7 cards (28 in total). Only the top card of each column starts face up.
- Stock: the remaining 24 cards, face down, in the top-left corner.
- Waste: where cards from the stock are turned face up.
- Foundations: four empty spaces at the top right, one for each suit.
Rules and legal moves
- Build the tableau down in alternating colours. A red 6 can go on a black 7; a black Jack can go on a red Queen.
- Move runs together. Any face-up run that is already in sequence (for example 9♠ 8♥ 7♣) can be moved as a unit onto a suitable card.
- Turn up hidden cards. When you move the last face-up card off a column, the face-down card underneath turns over automatically.
- Only Kings fill empty columns. An empty column can take a King, or a run that starts with a King.
- Build foundations up by suit. Start each foundation with an Ace, then add the 2, 3 and so on of the same suit up to the King.
- Use the stock. Click the stock to turn one card (Draw 1) or three cards (Draw 3) onto the waste. Only the top waste card can be played. When the stock is empty, click its spot to recycle the waste.
- Win by getting all 52 cards onto the foundations.
Controls on this site
- Drag and drop works with a mouse, finger or pen. Drop the card anywhere over the target pile.
- Tap or click a card to move it automatically: it goes to a foundation if possible, otherwise to the best tableau column.
- Undo is unlimited, and Hint highlights a useful move.
- Restart Deal replays the same cards from the beginning; Deal # lets you pick any of 999,999 numbered shuffles.
Klondike Strategy: How to Win More Games
- Uncover face-down cards first. When two moves look equal, choose the one that turns over a hidden card, and favour the longest columns, because they hide the most cards.
- Don’t empty a column without a King ready. An empty column only accepts a King, so clearing one is only valuable if you have a King (ideally one that frees a buried card) to put there.
- Play Aces and Twos to the foundations straight away. They are never needed in the tableau.
- Be careful with higher foundation moves. A 5 or 6 sent to the foundation can no longer hold a 4 or 5 of the other colour in the tableau. Move it up only when it does not strand anything.
- Choose which King to move. If a red and a black King could both fill an empty column, look at the Queens available: pick the King that lets you keep building.
- In Draw 3, think about the stock order. Playing a card from the waste changes which cards appear on the next pass. Sometimes it pays to leave a waste card where it is so a buried card becomes reachable.
- Use Undo to explore. If you reach a dead end, step back and try another order. The deal number lets you come back to a hard deal later.
A Short History of Klondike
Klondike’s name is usually linked to the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada’s Yukon in the late 1890s, and it was already a well-known patience game by the early twentieth century. It reached a vast new audience in 1990, when a version shipped with Microsoft Windows 3.0 and taught a generation of computer users to drag and drop. Today it is still the best-known solitaire game in the world.
Common Klondike Variations
- Draw 1 vs. Draw 3: both are available above. Draw 1 is the relaxed version; Draw 3 is the traditional, harder one.
- Limited passes: some versions allow only one or three trips through the stock (this site allows unlimited passes).
- Vegas scoring: a betting-style scoring system where you “buy” the deck and earn points per foundation card, usually with limited passes.
- Thoughtful Solitaire: Klondike with every card visible, which turns it into a pure puzzle.
Want something different? Try Spider for a two-deck challenge, FreeCell if you prefer a game where almost every deal can be won, or read our guide to all five games.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Draw 1 and Draw 3?
In Draw 1 you turn one card from the stock at a time, so every stock card becomes playable on each pass. In Draw 3 you turn three at a time and can only play the top one, which hides two out of every three cards and makes the game much harder. Use the Draw 1 / Draw 3 buttons above the table to switch; your statistics are kept separately for each mode.
Is every Klondike game winnable?
No. Some deals cannot be won no matter how you play, because key cards are buried under face-down cards or arrive in the wrong order. Computer studies of the game suggest that a large majority of deals are winnable in theory when every card is known, but a human player sees only the face-up cards, so real win rates are lower, especially with Draw 3.
Can I replay the same Klondike deal?
Yes. Every game has a deal number shown above the table. Press Restart Deal to start the current deal again, or type any number from 1 to 999,999 into the Deal # box to play that exact shuffle. Share the number with a friend and you both get the same cards.
How many times can I go through the stock?
As many times as you like. When the stock runs out, click the empty stock spot to turn the waste pile back over and keep drawing. Some other versions, such as Vegas scoring, limit the number of passes.
Can I move a card back from the foundation?
Yes. You may drag the top card of a foundation back onto the tableau if it fits (one rank lower and the opposite colour of the card it lands on). This is occasionally useful for freeing a card underneath.
When does Auto-Complete work?
Auto-Complete becomes available once every tableau card is face up. At that point the game can always be finished, so the button plays all remaining cards to the foundations for you.
Does the game save my progress?
Yes. Your current game, statistics and settings are stored in your browser's local storage on this device. Clearing site data or using a private window removes them.