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How to Play Spider Solitaire: Rules and Setup with Real Cards

Spider is a solitaire game played with two decks. You build cards down from King to Ace right in the columns, and every time you complete a whole suit in order, it leaves the table. Clear all eight suits to win. This page shows how to lay it out with real cards, the rules, the 1, 2 and 4-suit versions, and how to get better at it, with a one-page sheet to print.

Play Spider while you learn Print the rules

Spider at a glance

Setting up with real cards

You need two ordinary decks without jokers: 104 cards. Decks with the same back are easiest on the eye, but any two will do. Shuffle them together well; two decks take a few extra shuffles.

1. Deal four rows of ten cards face down, left to right. That’s 40 cards in ten columns.
2. Deal a fifth row: face down on the first four columns, face up on the other six.
3. Deal one more card face up on each of the first four columns.

Now the first four columns have 6 cards and the other six have 5, each with one card face up at the end: 54 cards on the table. Put the remaining 50 cards face down in a pile; that’s the stock, enough for five deals of ten. Leave a little room for the suits you complete.

The rules

• Build down, any suit. Any face-up card can go on a card one rank higher, whatever its suit: a 6 on any 7, a Queen on any King. Ace is low, so nothing goes on an Ace, and a King can’t go on anything.
• Move groups only in one suit. A run of cards can move together only if it’s in order and all one suit, such as 9♠ 8♠ 7♠. In a mixed run like 9♠ 8♥︎ 7♥︎, only the same-suit part on top (8♥︎ 7♥︎) moves together. There is no limit to how long a one-suit run can be.
• Turn up hidden cards. When you move the last face-up card off a column, turn the next card face up.
• Empty columns take anything. Any card, or any one-suit run, can go into an empty column. It doesn’t have to be a King.
• Complete a suit to clear it. When a column ends in a full run from King down to Ace in one suit, those 13 cards leave the table. In our game that happens automatically, and the next card in the column turns face up.
• Win by clearing all eight suits, all 104 cards.

There are no foundations to build up from the Ace: cards only leave the table as complete King-to-Ace suits.

Dealing a new row

Whenever you choose, usually when you’re out of good moves, deal ten cards from the stock: one face up on every column. The classic rule is that every column must have at least one card before you deal, so fill any empty column first, even if only with a single card. Our game follows that rule; some families let you deal over a gap, which makes the game a little easier.

After the fifth deal the stock is empty and you play on with what’s on the table.

One, two or four suits

Spider is played at three levels, all with 104 cards:

In our game, choose the number of suits in the Menu; it applies from the next deal.

Easier versions with real cards

Two ordinary decks give you the four-suit game. To play the easier versions without buying eight decks of spades, change how you count suits:

• Two suits: treat all black cards as one suit and all red cards as another. Each color has exactly four of every rank, just like two-suit Spider.
• One suit: ignore suits completely. Any ordered run moves together, and any run from King to Ace is complete.

Scoring

Spider is usually won or lost, not scored. Our game counts your moves and time and keeps your fewest moves and best streak.

If you like a score, the best-known one comes from the Windows version: start with 500 points, lose 1 for every move, gain 100 for every suit you complete.

Strategy tips

• Turn over face-down cards first. Hidden cards are the real enemy. When you have a choice, play from the column with the most cards still face down.
• Build in suit whenever you can. If a 6 could go on two different 7s, pick the one of the same suit. One-suit runs can move as a block later; mixed ones can’t.
• Empty a column, then use it. An empty column is your workspace: shuffle cards through it to sort mixed runs into one-suit runs, and only then fill it for good.
• Make every move before you deal. A new row covers all ten columns at once, so play everything useful first.
• Mind the Kings. A King can only move into an empty column. Free one when it will uncover something, not just to tidy up.
• Four suits takes patience. Undo is part of the game here; try a line, and take it back if it goes nowhere.

Mistakes to avoid

• Breaking a one-suit run to make an off-suit build that gains nothing.
• Filling an empty column too soon with a card that could have waited.
• Dealing too early, before you’ve used every move on the table.
• Moving cards around without turning anything over. If a move doesn’t uncover a card, build in suit, or free a column, it’s usually not worth making.

Spider with one deck

With a single deck, play Spiderette: 52 cards dealt out like Klondike in seven columns, the rest dealt seven at a time, and four suits to complete. The rules are otherwise the same as Spider.

If you like building whole suits in the columns, try Scorpion too, where you build down in suit and can move any face-up card with the cards on top of it.

Common questions