How to Win Solitaire: Klondike Strategy That Actually Works

To win more games of Klondike solitaire, focus on uncovering face-down cards above everything else. Play Aces and 2s to the foundations right away, make tableau moves before drawing from the stock, work on the columns with the most hidden cards, and don't empty a column unless you have a King ready for it. The rest of this guide explains each of those habits and the reasoning behind them.

Klondike rules in one minute

Klondike is the classic version of solitaire, the one most people picture when they hear the word.

• Tableau: seven columns. The first has one card, the second two, and so on up to seven. Only the top card of each column starts face up. That uses 28 cards.
• Stock: the remaining 24 cards, face down. You turn them over onto a waste pile, either one at a time (draw one) or three at a time (draw three), and you can play the top card of the waste.
• Foundations: four piles, one per suit, built up in order from Ace to King. You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations.
• Building in the tableau: place a card on the next-higher card of the opposite color, for example a red 7 on a black 8. You can move a correctly built run of cards as a group.
• Empty columns: only a King, or a run starting with a King, can fill an empty column.
• Face-down cards: when a face-down card becomes the top of its column, flip it over.

How many times you can go through the stock depends on the version. Many apps allow unlimited passes. Some scoring modes limit them.

The priority list

When you have several possible moves, work down this list.

1. Play Aces and 2s to the foundations immediately. They are never useful in the tableau, because nothing can be placed on an Ace and only an Ace fits under a 2.
2. Make moves that turn over a face-down card. Every hidden card is information you don't have yet. A move that flips a card is almost always better than one that doesn't.
3. Prefer the column with the most face-down cards. The seventh column starts with six hidden cards. Freeing it early gives you the most new options.
4. Make tableau moves before drawing from the stock. The stock is always there. A tableau move might free a card you will need to play the next stock card.
5. Don't empty a column without a King to put there. An empty column is only useful for a King. Emptying one early is fine if a King is waiting; otherwise you've spent moves for nothing.
6. Play cards to the foundations with care (see the next section).

Pro tip: If you have a choice between two identical moves, such as two black 8s that could go on your red 9, move the one that sits on top of more face-down cards.

Don't rush cards to the foundations

Getting cards onto the foundations feels like progress, but a card on a foundation can no longer hold other cards in the tableau. Move a middle card up too soon and you may strand a lower card with nowhere to go.

A reliable rule of thumb: a card is safe to play to its foundation when both cards of the opposite color, one rank lower, are already on the foundations.

For example, suppose you want to play the 6 of hearts to its foundation:

You don't always have to follow the rule. Sometimes playing a card up is the only way to reach a face-down card. But when you have nothing better to do, it keeps your options open.

Using empty columns and Kings

An empty column is one of the most valuable spaces in the game, because it is the only place a King can go. When you have a choice of which King to move there, look ahead:

• Pick the King that frees face-down cards. A King sitting on top of three hidden cards is worth far more than a King at the bottom of the waste pile.
• Match the color to the Queens you can see. If a red Queen is waiting to be played, move a black King so the Queen has a home.

Stock strategy for draw one and draw three

In draw one, you can reach every card in the stock, so the main skill is timing: make all the tableau moves you can first, then go through the stock looking for specific cards you need.

In draw three, only every third card is directly playable on each pass (our Draw 1 vs Draw 3 guide shows the exact card order). The upside: playing a card from the waste pile shifts which cards you will see on the next pass. If you are stuck, playing just one card from the waste changes the grouping and can bring a completely different set of cards within reach.

Two habits help in draw three:

• Remember what is in the waste. If you know a black 9 is in the stock, you can plan to keep a red 10 open for it.
• Don't burn through the stock mindlessly. On each pass, look for a card that frees a face-down card, not just any card that can be played.

When a game is stuck

Sometimes no moves are left. Before giving up, check these:

1. Can a card come back down from a foundation? Many apps let you move a card from a foundation back into the tableau, which can create a landing spot.
2. Is there a run you could split? You can move part of a built run, not only the whole thing, if the new top card fits somewhere else.
3. Would a different King in the empty column help?

If none of those work, the deal may simply be unwinnable. Not every Klondike deal can be solved, and draw-three games are lost more often than draw-one games even with good play. We cover the numbers in are all solitaire games winnable.

Using undo well

Undo is most useful as a way to look ahead. If you are unsure between two moves, try one, see which face-down card appears, and undo if it leads nowhere. Many players treat that as fair in casual games. If you want to test your real skill, play a few games with no undo and see how your win rate compares.

Keep playing

Solitaire rewards the same thing as every good puzzle: thinking one step ahead before you commit. Put these habits to work in a game of Solitaire right now. It has Draw 1 and Draw 3, undo and a hint button for when you are stuck. When you want a change, try Sudoku or 2048, and read our Sudoku strategies guide for more structured logic.