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Spider Solitaire with one suit
One-suit Spider is Spider played with spades only: 104 cards, eight full sets of the same suit, on the usual ten columns. Because every card matches every other in suit, any descending run moves as a unit, and the game becomes about space and order rather than colour. It is the version to learn on — and, played for its own sake, a calm ten-minute game with almost no luck in it.
One-suit Spider, every deal proven winnable before you see it. Free on the App Store.
Scan with your phone to installWhat changes with one suit
Nothing in the layout: ten columns, fifty-four cards dealt, fifty in the stock, five deals of ten. What changes is mobility. A 7 on any 8 is a run that moves; there is no such thing as a wrong-suit placement. The two things that can still go wrong are running out of space before a deal and burying a card you need under a run you cannot break without an empty column.
Rules in brief
- Move a card, or a descending run, onto a card one rank higher, or into an empty column.
- Tap the stock to deal one card onto every column; not allowed while a column is empty.
- A complete run from king to ace leaves the table. Eight runs win.
Are one-suit deals winnable?
Every one-suit deal in Decks comes from a pool of deals for which the solver found a winning line, replayed by the engine to confirm it. In the last measurement the solver proved 59 of 60 deals; only proven deals are dealt. A loss in one-suit Spider is always a loss you could have avoided — and the deal code lets you replay it.
Strategy for one suit
- Empty a column before the first deal. With one suit it is usually possible, and an empty column is what lets you rearrange runs later.
- Build long runs downward from the highest card. A run starting at a king is one that can eventually leave the table; a run starting at a 9 will need a 10 to sit on.
- Keep the ace visible. Aces end runs. An ace buried under a run is a run that cannot complete.
- Deal late. Every deal buries all ten columns. Use every available move first.
- Aim for zero mistakes, not speed. One-suit games are won or lost on a single wasted column; there is no clock in the score.
Moving on
When one-suit games feel routine, two suits introduces colour without the full difficulty of the classic game; four suits is the real thing.
Frequently asked questions
Is one-suit Spider easier than two-suit? Much. With one suit every run moves as a unit; with two, a red card on a black run stops it.
Is every one-suit Spider game winnable? Almost all shuffles are, and every deal in Decks is verified before it is dealt.
How many cards are in one-suit Spider? 104 — eight sets of the thirteen spades.
One-suit Spider, every deal proven winnable before you see it. Free on the App Store.
Scan with your phone to installAlso in Decks
- Black Hole Solitaire — rules and strategy
- Double Klondike — two-deck solitaire with nine columns
- FreeCell Solitaire — rules, moves and strategy
- Golf Solitaire — rules and strategy
- Klondike Solitaire — rules, five levels and strategy
- Memo — the memory card game, four sizes
- Pyramid Solitaire — rules, levels and strategy
- Spanish Solitaire — Klondike with a 40-card Spanish deck
- Spider Solitaire — 1, 2 and 4 suits
- Tower of Hanoi — with cards, three or four places, plus Two Towers
- TriPeaks Solitaire — rules and strategy