How to Play Klondike

Objective

Build four foundation piles, one per suit, each running in order from ace up to king. To free the cards you need, you rearrange the seven columns of the tableau and work through the stock. Some deals come out with ease, some take careful thought, and some cannot be won at all.

Setup

Deal seven columns left to right. The first column gets one card, the second two, and so on up to seven in the last, for 28 cards in all. Only the top card of each column is face up; the rest sit face down beneath it.

Place the remaining 24 cards face down as the stock. Leave room above the tableau for four foundation piles, which start empty, and room beside the stock for a face-up waste pile.

How to play

Move any ace to its own foundation as soon as it is free, then add the two, three and so on of the same suit. On the tableau, build downward in alternating colors: a red six can go on a black seven, a black jack on a red queen. You can move a single top card, or a whole run of face-up cards as one unit.

When a move leaves a face-down card on top of a column, turn it face up. When a column is emptied, only a king, or a run headed by a king, can fill the space.

When you are stuck, turn cards from the stock one at a time onto the waste pile. The top card of the waste is always available to play to the tableau or a foundation. When the stock runs out, you may turn the waste over to make a new stock, if the version you are playing allows another pass.

1. 1Play aces and following cards to the foundations
2. 2Build down in alternating colors on the tableau
3. 3Turn up face-down cards as they are uncovered
4. 4Fill empty columns with kings only
5. 5Turn the stock when you run out of moves

Scoring

Most people play Klondike simply to win or lose: all 52 cards home is a win, anything less is a loss. If you want a number to beat, Vegas scoring is the classic way to keep score.

Vegas scoring is usually played with a strict limit on passes through the stock: one pass when turning one card at a time, three passes when turning three. Keep a running total across several games and try to finish ahead.

Variations

Draw three: turn the stock three cards at a time and play only the top card of the three. It is harder, because the cards you need are often buried, and it is a very common way to play.

Thoughtful Solitaire: deal the stock face up so you can see every card. It turns Klondike into a pure puzzle and most deals become winnable.

Any card to a space: some players allow any card, not just a king, to fill an empty column. It makes the game noticeably easier.

Tips from the table

Turn over face-down cards before anything else. Play from the column with the most hidden cards first, because that is where you are most likely to be blocked.

Do not empty a column unless you have a king ready to move into it. An empty space with no king to fill it does nothing for you.

Hold back on sending low cards to the foundations too early. A black four on the tableau might be exactly where you need to park a red three later.

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