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Klondike Solitaire: the classic, at five sizes

By Gleb Tkatchouk · last updated 2026-10-03

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. Free to download; daily game limit without Premium.

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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 waste fan shows the last three cards, but only the top card is playable. When the stock runs out, the waste is turned back into it. Decks allows five such redeals; after the fifth, what remains remains.

The five levels

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

Are Klondike deals winnable?

Published research (Blake & Gent, 'Solving Klondike', arXiv 1906.12314, JAIR 2026) found that, when every card's position is known, about 90.5% of draw-one and 81.9% of draw-three Klondike deals can be won under standard rules. That is a ceiling for a player who cannot see the face-down cards; the share you actually win is lower. Decks limits redeals to five and its levels change the number of columns, so the figures are indicative only.

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. Send aces and twos home early; hold higher cards back. 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 rules page one tap away; undo without penalty; and a history of every round with its deal code. No ads, no account, works offline. Free to download; daily game limit without Premium. For how to check the "no ads" claim on any app, see Solitaire without ads on iPhone.

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? The stock can be redealt five times in Decks; after the fifth, what remains remains.

Is every game of Klondike winnable? No. Under standard rules, with every card known, about 90% of draw-one deals can be won (Blake & Gent); the rest are impossible from the start.

Klondike at five sizes, from five columns to two decks. Free to download; daily game limit without Premium.

Scan with your phone to install