Spider Solitaire is a patient, slow-thinking card game that uses 104 cards, which is two complete decks, and you can play Spider Solitaire unblocked with no account or download. Ten columns hold the starting layout and the leftover cards wait in a stock. To win, you build eight full sequences, each running from King down to Ace in a single suit. You can play with one suit, two suits or all four, so the same game works as an easy break or a real brain workout.
The Opening Layout
Fifty-four cards are dealt to the table. The four leftmost columns get six apiece, the rest get five, and only the top card of each column is turned face up. The other 50 cards form the stock, which is enough for five deals.
At the top of the screen, one counter tracks your moves and another shows how many of the eight sequences you’ve finished. Each deal from the stock counts as a move too. The first time you open the game, a short quick-rules box sums up the goal and the two key move rules, and you can bring it back later with the Quick rules button.
How to Play Spider Solitaire
Moving works in two clicks: click a card, then click the spot where it should go. A line under the board tells you what to do next, and it explains why a move failed, such as when a card can’t be picked up or can’t go where you tried.
The rules are simple, but one of them surprises new players:
- Any single card may go on a card one rank above it, even if the suits differ. A red 9 can sit on a black 10.
- A stack of cards can travel as one piece only when it is already in order and all one suit. Otherwise you must shift it card by card.
- Empty columns take anything you want to put there.
Finished King-to-Ace sequences in a single suit leave the table without you doing anything, and a message confirms each one.
When to Deal
Press the stock once you are out of helpful moves. It adds a face-up card to each of the ten columns. The game refuses to deal while any column is empty, so fill the gap first. Dealing covers every column, which can hide cards you were about to use. After the fifth deal the stock is empty, and from then on every move has to come from the table.
Spider Solitaire Strategy
- Stay in suit when you can. Matching-suit stacks move together later. Mixed stacks lock up.
- Protect open columns. An empty space is your best tool for sorting a messy pile, so don’t waste it.
- Turn over hidden cards fast. Every card you uncover creates new choices, and the left side starts with the most hidden.
- Use up every move before dealing. Empty the table of options first, then tap the stock.
- Use undo freely. It works on both moves and deals, with no limit during a session, so experiment.
- Park Kings in empty columns. Nothing can go on top of an Ace, and nothing can hold a King except an empty column, so a King there is a good start for a full sequence.
Mistakes New Players Make
The most common is building long mixed-suit stacks because the rules allow it. They look like progress, but you can only move them one card at a time, and they often bury the cards you need. Another is filling an empty column with a single low card just to clear something else. That spends your most flexible space on a card that could have waited. Last, many players deal too early, then find that the new row has covered a move they missed. Scan all ten columns before every deal.
Picking Your Difficulty
One suit is great for learning, because rank is all that matters. Two suits, the starting setting, adds a color puzzle on top. Four suits is a serious challenge and a win can take a long time. The suit count is chosen from a menu next to the New game button, and starting a new game over one in progress asks you to confirm first.
Settings, Devices and Saving
The Settings menu lets you switch on a high-contrast look, pick from three text sizes and choose compact, normal or spacious spacing. Those help on a small or dim school laptop screen. Your game in progress stays saved in this browser, so you can close the tab and pick it up later.
Play with a mouse, by tapping, or with the arrow keys and Enter. There is no timer and no sound, so it is a good fit for a quiet room and for sessions of any length. A one-suit game can be done in a short break, while a four-suit game is better saved for a longer stretch.
Similar Card Games
For another solitaire with different rules, try Klondike Solitaire or FreeCell Solitaire, where open cells give you more control. For a quiet number puzzle instead of cards, try Factors Game, or settle into the slow climb of Progress Knight. More are on the board and card games page.
