Klondike Solitaire
The classic. The one Microsoft bundled with Windows in 1990 and a billion mouse-pushers learned to drag and drop on. Play below in Turn 1 (every stock card playable) or Turn 3 (the harder, original deal). Unlimited undos. Your in-progress game saves automatically.
How to Play Klondike Solitaire
Deal seven tableau columns of increasing length (1, 2, 3… 7 cards), face-down except for the top card of each. The remaining 24 cards become the stock. The four empty slots upper-right are the foundations. Goal: build each foundation up from Ace to King in suit.
Within the tableau you build descending sequences in alternating colors. A red 7 goes on a black 8; a black Jack on a red Queen. Kings — and only Kings — can move into an empty column. Click the stock pile to flip cards into the waste pile; the top waste card is always available to play.
7 Klondike Strategies That Actually Work
- Always uncover face-down cards before tidying. A move that exposes a hidden card is worth more than a move that just looks neat.
- Don't auto-send Aces and 2s. They're useful in the tableau as anchors. Once they're on the foundation they can't come back.
- Create an empty column. The single most powerful play in Klondike. It gives you a parking spot for any King.
- Watch the colors. If you've already covered both red 8s with black 7s, the last black 7 has nowhere to land.
- In Turn 3, cycle the stock once before committing. Know what's hiding before you spend moves you can't take back.
- Move full sequences as a unit. Drag the whole stack to reveal what's underneath.
- Recognize lost positions. If both red Kings are buried under tall stacks of black cards, the deal might be dead. Hit New Game without guilt.
Turn 1 vs Turn 3: Which Mode Should You Play?
Turn 1 reveals one stock card per click; every card in the deck is reachable. Turn 3 flips three cards at a time and only the top of the three is playable, hiding the other two until the cycle comes around. Turn 1 plays around a 33% win rate with optimal play; Turn 3 drops to roughly 11%. If you're learning, start in Turn 1. If you want the original Vegas-rules experience, Turn 3 is the real deal.
See the full breakdown in Turn 1 vs Turn 3 Klondike.
Klondike Win Percentage and Difficulty
Klondike is not a game you can win every time. Mathematicians have proven that a meaningful fraction of Turn 3 deals are unwinnable from move one — no sequence of legal moves leads to a complete win. Even among solvable deals, perfect play wins about 80%. Combined, a strong human player wins around 33% in Turn 1 and 11% in Turn 3. That's not failure; that's the game.
A Brief History
Klondike is named after the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896, where prospectors apparently played it to pass long evenings in the Yukon. The game existed before Microsoft, but Wes Cherry's 1990 bundled version — the one with the bouncing-cards win animation — is what made it the most-played computer game in history.
FAQ
Is Klondike the same as solitaire?
"Solitaire" is the family name. Klondike is the most famous member of the family — so famous that "solitaire" usually means Klondike unless someone specifies.
Can every Klondike deal be won?
No. A measurable fraction of Turn 3 deals have no winning sequence. Turn 1 deals are mostly solvable with the right play.
What is Vegas-style Klondike?
You start by "buying" the deck for 52 dollars and earn 5 dollars per card you send to the foundation. You cycle the stock once and stop.
Are Aces sent automatically?
Most online versions, including ours, send Aces up automatically once they're playable. You can disable autoplay in settings.