How to Play Solitaire (Klondike) — Rules, Strategy & Winning Tips

What Is Klondike Solitaire?

Klondike is the card game most people simply call "Solitaire." It's the version that shipped with every copy of Windows since 1990, the one your grandparents played at the kitchen table, and the one that silently devours lunch breaks worldwide. The objective is straightforward: move all 52 cards to four foundation piles, sorted by suit from Ace to King.

Despite its reputation as a mindless time-killer, Klondike is a game of genuine skill. Studies estimate that roughly 79% of deals are theoretically winnable, but the average player wins only about 1 in 5. The gap between those numbers is pure strategy — and that's what this guide covers.

The Setup

A standard 52-card deck is dealt into three areas:

• The Tableau: Seven columns of cards. Column 1 has one card, column 2 has two, and so on up to column 7 with seven cards. Only the top card in each column is face-up; the rest are face-down.
• The Stock (Draw Pile): The remaining 24 cards are placed face-down. You draw from here when you run out of moves on the tableau.
• The Foundations: Four empty piles, one per suit. You build these up from Ace to King to win the game.

Some versions also include a waste pile — the face-up discard area where drawn stock cards go. You can only play the top card of the waste pile.

The Rules

Klondike has a small set of rules that create enormous strategic depth:

1. Tableau building: Cards on the tableau are stacked in descending order and alternating colors. A black 7 goes on a red 8. A red Jack goes on a black Queen.
2. Foundation building: Foundations are built by suit in ascending order, starting with the Ace. You must play the Ace of Hearts before the 2 of Hearts, and so on.
3. Moving groups: You can move a properly sequenced stack of face-up cards from one tableau column to another, as long as the bottom card of the stack follows the alternating-color descending rule on the destination column.
4. Empty columns: Only a King (or a stack starting with a King) can be placed in an empty tableau column.
5. Drawing from stock: In "Draw 1" mode, you flip one card at a time. In "Draw 3" mode, you flip three cards and can only play the top one. Draw 3 is significantly harder.

Strategy: Uncover Face-Down Cards First

This is the single most important principle in Klondike. Every face-down card is hidden information. You cannot plan effectively when 21 of your 52 cards are invisible. Your primary goal at every moment should be: reveal face-down cards.

When you have a choice between two valid moves, prefer the one that flips a face-down card. Moving a 6 from a column with three hidden cards underneath is almost always better than moving a 6 from a column where all cards are already visible.

This principle has a corollary: don't move cards to the foundations too eagerly. A 3 of Hearts sitting on the tableau might be enabling you to place a black 2 somewhere, which in turn lets you uncover hidden cards. Moving that 3 to the foundation removes it as a building target. Only move cards to foundations when doing so doesn't reduce your tableau options — or when you're sure you won't need them.

Strategy: Managing the Stock Pile

The stock pile is where most games are won or lost. Here's how to handle it well:

• Don't draw immediately. Always exhaust your tableau moves before touching the stock. Drawing too early buries useful cards in the waste pile.
• In Draw 3, track the cycle. Cards cycle through the waste pile in groups of three. If you know a card you need is two cards deep in a group, you may need to play one of the cards above it first — even if that play isn't ideal — to access the buried card on the next cycle.
• Count your passes. In some rule sets, you only get a limited number of passes through the stock (often three). Even in unlimited-pass versions, each full cycle without a play means you're stuck. If you complete a full pass with no moves, it's time to reconsider your tableau arrangement.
• Play from the waste pile when you can. Every card you play from waste to tableau opens up the next card in the waste — a free "draw" that doesn't cost you a stock cycle.

Strategy: When to Move Cards to Foundations

The instinct to move cards to the foundation as quickly as possible is natural — that's how you win, after all. But premature foundation moves are one of the biggest mistakes intermediate players make.

Safe to move to foundations:

• Aces — always. They serve no purpose on the tableau.
• 2s — almost always. Rarely useful for tableau building.
• Any card when both cards of the opposite color and one rank lower are already on their foundations. (For example, it's safe to move the 7 of Spades to the foundation if both the 6 of Hearts and 6 of Diamonds are already there — no red 6 will ever need to sit on a black 7.)

Risky to move to foundations:

• Mid-range cards (5–9) that could serve as building targets for uncovering hidden cards.
• Any card where the opposite-color card one rank lower is still buried or unplayed.

When in doubt, leave it on the tableau. You can always move it to the foundation later.

Strategy: Empty Columns Are Gold

An empty tableau column is one of the most powerful assets in Klondike. Only Kings can go in empty columns, and a well-placed King opens an entire new building lane. Here's how to use empty columns effectively:

• Don't fill empty columns with just any King. Choose the King that has the most potential to uncover hidden cards or create useful building sequences. A King sitting in a column with face-down cards beneath it (before being moved) is better than a King from the stock with no hidden cards to reveal.
• Use empty columns as temporary storage. In complex maneuvers, you can park a card or stack in an empty column, make your real move, then move the parked cards back. This is especially useful for reorganizing long sequences.
• Don't create empty columns you can't fill. An empty column waiting for a King that's buried deep in the stock is just a wasted lane. Make sure you have a King available — or nearly available — before clearing a column.

Strategy: Choosing Between Equal Moves

You'll frequently face a choice between two moves that look equally valid. Here's a hierarchy for breaking ties:

1. Prefer the move that reveals a face-down card over one that doesn't.
2. Prefer the move that works on the longest hidden stack. If column 5 has four hidden cards and column 2 has one, uncovering column 5 gives you more information.
3. Prefer the move that keeps your options open. Moving a card to a column with many face-up cards is safer than moving it to a nearly empty column (which you might want to clear for a King).
4. Prefer building on higher cards. A sequence starting from a Queen gives you more room to build than one starting from a 7.

These aren't absolute rules — context matters. But when you genuinely can't tell which move is better, this hierarchy will steer you right more often than not.

Common Mistakes

• Rushing cards to foundations: As covered above, this strips the tableau of building targets. Be patient.
• Ignoring the stock cycle: In Draw 3, players often draw mindlessly. Track which cards are coming and plan your waste-pile plays accordingly.
• Filling empty columns with the wrong King: Not all Kings are equal. The one that enables the longest building chain or uncovers the most hidden cards is the right choice.
• Giving up too early: Many seemingly stuck positions have a way out. Before resigning, try cycling through the stock one more time and re-examining every possible tableau move.
• Never using undo: In practice mode, undo is a learning tool. Use it to explore alternative lines and build intuition for which moves lead to better outcomes.

Draw 1 vs. Draw 3

The difference between Draw 1 and Draw 3 is larger than most people realize:

• Draw 1: You see every card in the stock in order. Win rates for skilled players can exceed 80%. It's more forgiving and better for learning fundamentals.
• Draw 3: You only see every third card on each pass. Win rates drop to roughly 30–40% even for strong players. Requires careful waste-pile management and planning multiple passes ahead.

If you're new to Solitaire strategy, start with Draw 1. Once you're winning consistently, switch to Draw 3 for the real challenge. The core strategies are identical — Draw 3 just punishes mistakes harder and requires more forward planning.