Do colours matter when placing a single card in Spider?

No. To move one card at a time you only need the destination to be one rank higher; suit and colour are ignored. Suit only matters for moving groups and for removing completed runs.

Why can't I deal from the stock?

Spider forbids dealing a new row while any column is empty. Fill every empty column first, then you can deal the next ten cards from the stock.

How many complete runs do I need to win?

Eight. Two decks contain eight of each suit's worth of ranks, so a full game requires assembling and removing eight separate King-to-Ace sequences.

Which suit count should a beginner start with?

One suit. With every card the same suit, all descending runs are portable and win rates are high, which lets you learn the flow before moving up to two or four suits.

Spider Solitaire: How to Play, and How to Win

Spider solitaire looks intimidating — two whole decks, ten columns, cards everywhere — but the rules are surprisingly compact. Where Klondike asks you to build four foundations one suit at a time, Spider asks you to assemble eight complete sequences directly on the table and then whisk them away. Once that single idea clicks, the sprawling board becomes far less scary.

This guide covers the full game: the layout, how cards build, how you remove finished runs, how the stock behaves, and what the one, two, and four-suit modes actually change. Open a game of Spider solitaire alongside this article and the pieces will fall into place quickly.

The goal of Spider

Spider is played with two decks, 104 cards in all. Your task is to build eight sequences running from King down to Ace, each in a single suit. Every time you complete such a run within a column, it is lifted off the board. Clear all eight and the game is won — the tableau ends up completely empty.

The board

The deal creates ten columns. The first four columns receive six cards each and the remaining six columns receive five cards each, which uses 54 cards. In every column only the bottom card is face up; the rest start face down and are revealed as you clear the cards on top of them. The other 50 cards form the stock in the corner, waiting to be dealt.

How cards build

Here is the rule that trips up newcomers, so read it carefully. Within the tableau you build down in rank — a 9 goes on a 10, an 8 goes on a 9 — and for the purpose of moving one card at a time colour and suit do not matter. You may drop any 9 onto any 10.

Suit only matters for two things: removing runs, and moving groups. You can pick up and move a block of cards together only if they already form a descending same-suit sequence. So a run of spades 10-9-8 can travel as a unit onto a spade Jack or any Jack, but a mixed-suit 10-9-8 must be moved one card at a time. This is why keeping sequences in the same suit is so valuable: same-suit runs are portable, mixed runs are stuck.

Single-card moves: any card can land on a card one rank higher, regardless of suit.
Group moves: a group moves as one only if it is a same-suit descending run.
Empty columns: an empty column is a powerful free space — any card or any movable group may be placed there.

Removing a King-to-Ace run

The heart of the game is the complete run. Whenever a single suit lines up from King all the way down to Ace inside one column, that thirteen-card run is automatically removed from play. Each removal empties space and brings you one of the eight steps closer to winning. Everything you do — ordering cards, chasing same-suit stacks, opening columns — is ultimately in service of assembling these King-to-Ace chains.

Dealing from the stock

When you run out of moves, you deal a new row from the stock. Spider's stock rule is distinctive: it deals one card face up onto every column at once, ten cards per deal, five deals in total. There is one important condition — you cannot deal from the stock while any column is empty. This forces you to fill gaps before drawing, which can be a nuisance, so plan your empty columns around the moments you will need to deal.

One suit, two suits, or four

Spider's difficulty is set entirely by how many suits are in play, and it is the single biggest lever on how hard a game feels.

One suit: all 104 cards are the same suit (typically spades). Because every card matches, every descending run is automatically a same-suit run, so groups move freely. This is the friendliest way to learn the flow of the game and win rates are very high.
Two suits: cards come in two suits. Now you must keep track of which colour you are stacking and work to consolidate suits so your runs stay portable. A solid middle challenge.
Four suits: the full deck of four suits, and the true test. Same-suit sequences are hard to build and easy to break, so careful sequencing and disciplined use of empty columns become essential.

If you are new, start at one suit until removing a run feels natural, then step up. The rules never change between modes — only the difficulty does.

A short worked example

Imagine a column ending in a black 10 and, elsewhere, a loose black 9 sitting at the base of another column. Slide the 9 onto the 10 — descending rank, and because both are the same suit you now have a portable two-card run. If the card revealed behind the 9 is a black Jack, you can carry the 10-9 pair onto it, extending the same-suit sequence to three cards and uncovering yet another hidden card. String enough of these together in one suit and you edge toward a full King-to-Ace run. Try the opposite too: had that 9 been a different suit, it would still land on the 10 for a single move, but you could never lift the pair together later, which is the trap that quietly stalls four-suit games.

A few habits that help

Try to build in suit whenever you have the choice, even if an off-suit move looks tempting, because same-suit runs are the only ones you can relocate later. Uncover face-down cards early, since hidden cards are pure uncertainty. Guard your empty columns; they are the most flexible resource on the board and you will also need them clear enough to deal from the stock. And think a move or two ahead before you commit — an off-suit placement that blocks a card you need can be hard to undo.

Spider shares its family with Scorpion, another build-down-and-remove game with its own twist, so skills carry over between them. If any term here is unfamiliar, our solitaire glossary spells them out, and beginners coming from the classic game may want our Klondike walkthrough for comparison.

Give it a spin

Spider rewards patience and suit discipline more than luck, and every game teaches you something about sequencing. Start in one-suit mode, get comfortable removing full runs, then climb toward the four-suit challenge at your own pace. Browse the rest of 247solitaire.my when you want a change, but for now, deal the ten columns and start weaving those King-to-Ace runs.