Spider Solitaire Rules
Spider is a two-pack patience game. Instead of sorting cards onto foundations one by one, you build complete runs from King down to Ace in a single suit on the table. Each complete run is removed. Remove eight runs and you have won.
🕷️ Play it now: open Spider Solitaire with 1, 2 or 4 suits.
Cards and layout
- 104 cards. With 1 suit all eight sets are spades; with 2 suits, four sets of spades and four of hearts; with 4 suits, two full packs.
- Ten columns: the first four get 6 cards, the other six get 5 (54 cards). Only the top card of each column is face up.
- The remaining 50 cards form the stock: five deals of ten cards.
Moving cards
- Any face-up card can be placed on a card one rank higher, regardless of suit. A Queen goes on any King, a 4 on any 5.
- A group of cards can be moved together only if it is a run in descending order and all of the same suit, e.g. 9♠ 8♠ 7♠. A mixed run like 9♠ 8♥ 7♠ can only be moved one card at a time from the top.
- Uncovered face-down cards are turned face up.
- Any card or same-suit run can be moved into an empty column.
- Aces have nothing that goes on them; a King can only go into an empty column.
Dealing from the stock
Whenever you choose, deal ten cards from the stock, one face up on every column. All columns must have at least one card before you deal. There are five deals in total.
Completing runs and winning
When a column holds a full run from King to Ace of one suit, those 13 cards are removed from the table. Remove all eight runs (all 104 cards) to win.
The three levels
| Suits | Cards | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|
| 1 suit | 8 × spades | Relaxing; most games can be won |
| 2 suits | 4 × spades, 4 × hearts | Needs planning; a good player wins a fair share |
| 4 suits | 2 full packs | Very hard; few deals are won without lots of undo |
Spider is an old patience game; it reached millions of PCs when Microsoft added it to Windows around the year 2000.
FAQ
Can you move a mixed-suit run in Spider?
Not as a group. You can still move its cards one at a time from the top, if there is somewhere to put each one.
Can any card go in an empty column in Spider?
Yes, any single card or any same-suit run. That's why empty columns are so valuable.
What happens to a completed King to Ace run?
It is removed from the table automatically and counts as one of the eight runs you need.
Do I have to use the whole stock?
You can deal whenever you want, but every column must have a card first. Often it's better to make all the moves you can before dealing.