Solitaire Rules (Klondike)
Klondike is the game most people simply call Solitaire (in India and the UK often Patience). It is played alone with one standard 52-card pack, and the aim is to sort the whole pack into four piles, one per suit, from Ace up to King.
🃏 Play it now: open Solitaire, free, with Draw 1 and Draw 3.
The layout
- Tableau: seven columns. The first has 1 card, the second 2, up to 7 in the last; only the top card of each column is face up. That uses 28 cards.
- Stock: the other 24 cards, face down, at the top left.
- Waste: where cards from the stock are turned face up.
- Foundations: four empty spaces at the top right, one for each suit.
Moving cards
- On the tableau, a card goes on a card one rank higher and of the opposite colour: red on black, black on red. A red 8 can go on a black 9.
- You can move a whole face-up sequence together, such as a black 9, red 8, black 7, onto a red 10.
- When a face-down card is left uncovered, turn it face up.
- Only a King, or a sequence starting with a King, may be placed in an empty column.
- Foundations are built up in suit: A♥, 2♥, 3♥ … K♥. A card on a foundation may be brought back down to the tableau if it helps.
The stock: Draw 1 and Draw 3
Turn cards from the stock to the waste. The top card of the waste can be played to the tableau or a foundation. When the stock is empty, turn the waste over to make a new stock.
| Mode | How it works | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Draw 1 | One card at a time; every card can be reached on each pass. | Easier, most deals can be won |
| Draw 3 | Three cards at a time; only the top one is playable, so some cards stay buried. | Harder, the classic game |
Some versions limit how many times you can go through the stock (for example three passes in Draw 3, or one in Vegas scoring). Cheettukali allows unlimited passes.
Winning
You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations. When the stock is empty and every card on the tableau is face up, the game can always be won, so Cheettukali finishes it for you.
Scoring
Cheettukali keeps it simple: your time and number of moves, plus wins, win percentage and streaks for Draw 1 and Draw 3 separately. Older Windows versions used a points system (for example +10 for a card to a foundation, +5 for a card from the waste to the tableau) and "Vegas" scoring with a pretend bet; we leave those out, as this site never uses money, real or pretend.
Klondike is named after the Klondike gold rush in Canada (1896–99), where the game is said to have been popular.
FAQ
How many cards are in each column at the start of Solitaire?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 cards from left to right, 28 in all, with only the top card of each column face up.
Can I put any card in an empty column?
In Klondike only a King, or a sequence starting with a King. (In FreeCell and Spider any card can go there.)
Can I take a card back from the foundation?
Yes, in most rules, including ours. It is sometimes the only way to free a card.
Why is Solitaire called Patience?
Patience is the older British name for all card games played alone. In India and the UK, 'Patience' and 'Solitaire' usually mean Klondike.