Play Spider Solitaire Online

How to win at Spider Solitaire: strategy and tips

Spider is a game of building long runs from King down to Ace. With one suit most games can be won; with four suits even experts lose many. Start with one or two suits, and use these habits to win more.

Open the short columns first

The four columns on the left start with six cards and the six on the right with five. Look for the column that is closest to empty and work towards clearing it. Your first empty column changes the whole game.

Use an empty column as a workspace

An empty column lets you take a long run apart and put it back together on a better card. Treat it as a parking spot, not a home. Dropping a single low card into it wastes your best tool.

Untangle mixed runs

Placing a card on a higher card of another suit is allowed, and it is often the only way to dig deeper. But a mixed run is stuck together until you separate it. Every time you can, move a card back onto the same suit so that runs become movable as one block.

Get ready before dealing

A new deal puts a card on every column and may bury a run you were building. Before you deal, finish the runs you can and make sure no column is empty, because the game cannot deal while one is. Put a high card or a long run into the empty column, not a stray low card.

Go up in difficulty step by step

One suit teaches you how runs and empty columns work. With two suits you start sorting colors, and with four you have to plan several moves ahead. Moving up only when you win often keeps the game fun.

Mistakes to avoid

• Moving a King into an empty column while lower cards still need the space.
• Breaking a same-suit run just to make a mixed one.
• Dealing a new row while useful moves are still on the table.