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Spider Solitaire: one, two and four suits

By Gleb Tkatchouk · last updated 2026-10-03

Spider is the two-deck solitaire: 104 cards, ten columns, and the goal of building eight complete runs from king down to ace. It is one of the best-known solitaires, and the one where the choice of suits changes the game the most — one-suit Spider is a pleasant puzzle, four-suit Spider is one of the hardest solitaires there is.

Spider with one, two or four suits. Free to download; daily game limit without Premium.

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Rules of Spider Solitaire

The deal. Ten columns. The first four get six cards each, the other six get five — fifty-four cards on the table, the top card of each column face up. The remaining fifty cards form the stock.

Moving cards. A card, or a descending run of cards of the same suit, moves onto a card one rank higher — of any suit. A run can also move to an empty column. Only same-suit runs move as a unit: a 7♠ on an 8♥ is a legal placement, but that pair will not move together afterwards.

Dealing from the stock. Tapping the stock deals one card onto every column at once — ten cards per deal, five deals in total. Dealing is not allowed while any column is empty: fill every column first.

Completing a run. When a column contains a full run from king down to ace in one suit, it leaves the table. Eight completed runs — all 104 cards — win the game.

One suit, two suits, four suits

The number of suits is the difficulty setting, and it is the only thing that changes.

One suit — spades only, eight sets of them. Any card can be placed on any card one rank higher, and every run you build moves as a unit. Runs almost assemble themselves; the game is about keeping columns tidy and freeing space before each deal. A good introduction, and a calm game in its own right.

Two suits — spades and hearts, four sets of each. Now a red card on a black run breaks the run's mobility. The game becomes about deciding when a mixed-suit placement is worth it to open a card, and when it will cost you later.

Four suits — a full deck, twice. The classic Spider, and a genuinely hard game: most deals cannot be won without planning several deals of the stock ahead, and some cannot be won at all.

Each level has its own page with rules, strategy and the numbers: one suit, two suits, four suits. In Decks you pick the suit count on the game card before dealing.

Are Spider deals winnable?

Four-suit Spider is dealt as a plain shuffle: Decks does not pre-check four-suit deals. When you lose a four-suit game, the summary shows 'this deal: unknown' — never 'unwinnable', because there is no proof either way.

Strategy that actually helps

1. Empty a column early. An empty column is the most valuable thing on the table: it lets you move runs that are stuck behind a wrong-suit card. Short columns — the six on the right — are the natural candidates.
2. Build in suit, not just in sequence. Placing a 9♥ on a 10♠ is legal and sometimes necessary, but it creates a run that will not move together. Prefer same-suit placements when there is a choice.
3. Expose face-down cards. Every face-down card is unknown information. Moves that turn a card over are usually worth more than moves that tidy a run.
4. Do not deal until you must. Each deal covers every column with a new card and buries your runs. Exhaust the useful moves first, then deal.
5. Move kings to empty columns only with a plan. A king cannot go anywhere else, and it blocks the column for the rest of the game unless you complete its run.
6. Use undo to look, not to cheat. Undo in Decks carries no score penalty. Turning a card over, seeing what it is, and undoing is a legitimate way to plan — the same information a patient player would gather anyway. Free play has a daily allowance of undos; a subscription removes it.

Spider in Decks

Decks plays Spider with the three suit levels above, undo without penalty, a rules page one tap away, and a history of every round with its deal code, so a game can be replayed or handed to someone else. There are no ads and no account; the app works offline. Free to download; daily game limit without Premium. How to verify "no ads" on any App Store page: Solitaire without ads on iPhone.

Frequently asked questions

How many cards are in Spider Solitaire? 104 — two standard 52-card decks without jokers.

How many times can you deal from the stock? Five. Fifty cards in the stock, ten columns, one card per column per deal.

Can I move a run of mixed suits? No. Only a run of the same suit moves as a unit. A mixed run has to be taken apart card by card.

Is one-suit Spider "real" Spider? It uses the same layout and rules; only the deck composition differs. It is the standard way to learn the game, and many people play it for its own sake.

What percentage of Spider games are winnable? For four suits, almost all: Alex Robinson's plspider program has won 64,998 of the first 65,000 PySolFC deals, and he estimates about one deal in 40,000 is unwinnable (figures on his page are updated as more games are solved).

How does Spider compare to other solitaires? Two decks, partial hidden cards, flexible same-suit runs — see the four-axis map in Which solitaire to play.

Spider with one, two or four suits. Free to download; daily game limit without Premium.

Scan with your phone to install