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Klondike Solitaire: the classic, at five sizes

By Gleb Tkatchouk · last updated 2026-09-18

Klondike is what most people mean by "solitaire": seven columns, four foundations, a stock you turn through. Decks plays the classic seven-column game and four variations of it — narrower, wider, and one with two decks — so the same rules give five very different games.

Klondike at five sizes, from five columns to two decks, plus a daily deal that is the same for everyone. Free on the App Store.

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Rules of Klondike

The layout. Seven columns: one card in the first, two in the second, up to seven in the seventh — twenty-eight cards, the top of each column face up. The remaining twenty-four form the stock.

Foundations. Four, built up by suit from ace to king. Moving all fifty-two cards to the foundations wins.

Columns. Cards are built down in rank and alternate in colour. A run of correctly built cards moves as a unit. An empty column takes a king — or a run headed by a king — and nothing else.

The stock. Cards come off the stock one at a time to the waste; the top of the waste is playable. When the stock runs out, the waste is turned back into it. Decks allows five passes; after the fifth, what remains remains.

The five levels

All five deal one card at a time with five passes; only the table changes.

Are Klondike deals winnable?

Every Klondike deal in Decks is drawn from a pool of deals that a bot has actually played to a win, with the win replayed by the engine. In the last measurement — 8,000 to 10,000 deals per level — a greedy bot with no look-ahead won 70% of Easier deals, 40% of Classic and 4% of Hard. Those are floors: published estimates put the true winnable share of classic draw-one Klondike around 80–90%, and a patient player with undo lands well above the bot. Only proven deals are dealt. Full tables on Is every solitaire deal winnable?.

Strategy

1. Turn face-down cards over first. Twenty-one cards start hidden. A move that exposes one is almost always the best move available.
2. Play from the columns before the stock. The stock will come round again; a column card you skip may be buried by your next move.
3. Prefer the long columns. The right-hand columns hide the most cards; working them early pays off for the whole game.
4. Do not rush aces and twos home — do rush them out. Low cards to the foundation are safe; higher cards may still be needed to hold a run.
5. Empty a column for the right king. An empty column is valuable only with a king you can build on. A king with nothing beneath it is a locked column.
6. Count the passes. Five sound like plenty; they are not on a deal where the card you need sits at the bottom of the stock.

Klondike in Decks

Five levels chosen on the game card, each with its own statistics; a daily deal that is the same for everyone and always solvable; a rules page one tap away; undo without penalty; and a history of every round with its deal code. No ads, no account, works offline.

Frequently asked questions

Is Klondike the same as solitaire? Klondike is the specific game most people call "solitaire". Solitaire is the family; FreeCell, Spider and Pyramid are other members.

Draw one or draw three? Decks currently deals one card at a time on every level.

What goes in an empty column? A king, or a run starting with a king. Nothing else.

How many times can you go through the deck? Five in Decks.

Is every game of Klondike winnable? No — which is why Decks checks every deal before dealing it.

Klondike at five sizes, from five columns to two decks, plus a daily deal that is the same for everyone. Free on the App Store.

Scan with your phone to install