Solitaire FAQ
The questions people ask most about solitaire - the games, the odds, the history, and how this site works. Here's the short answer to each; click through for the full explanation with examples. Looking for the rules of a specific variant? Head to the Rules hub.
Common solitaire questions
Where does solitaire come from?
Solitaire - called patience in much of Europe - first appears in written records in the late 1700s in northern Europe, likely Germany or Scandinavia. Klondike took its name from the 1890s gold rush, and the game's modern dominance came from Microsoft shipping Solitaire with Windows 3.0 in 1990.
Is solitaire good for your brain?
Solitaire exercises genuinely useful mental skills: planning several moves ahead, remembering which cards have appeared, weighing risk against reward, and spotting patterns quickly. It is not a miracle brain trainer, but it is engaging mental activity many people find calming and focusing.
What percentage of solitaire games are winnable?
It varies enormously by variant. About 99.999% of FreeCell deals are winnable with perfect play, roughly 80% of Klondike Turn 1 deals, around 80% of Yukon deals, and only about 20% of strict-rules Pyramid deals. Real win rates are much lower than these theoretical ceilings.
Which solitaire game is best for beginners?
Klondike Turn 1 is the classic starting point - simple rules and a high share of winnable deals. 1-suit Spider is even more forgiving. TriPeaks and Golf are fast, casual picks. Once comfortable, FreeCell teaches real planning, and Russian or Forty Thieves await when you want a challenge.
Is Solitaire.now free?
Completely. Every game, the daily challenge, the leaderboard and online multiplayer are free to play in your browser, with no download and no signup. An optional free account only adds cross-device stats and a permanent name on the leaderboard.
Does solitaire work on mobile?
Yes. Every game is built for touch, with tap-to-move and drag-and-drop that work on phones and tablets. There's no app to download - it runs in your mobile browser, and you can add it to your home screen to play like an app.
What is the Daily Challenge?
The daily challenge is a single seeded deal that every player in the world gets on a given day, generated from the date. Win it and your time is ranked against everyone else who cracked the same deal. Miss a day and that deal is gone, which is what makes a streak worth protecting.
How does multiplayer solitaire work?
Both players get the identical seeded deal at the same moment and race on their own boards. A live progress bar shows how many cards each has banked; the first to finish wins, and if you both stall the higher count takes it. Create a room, share the link, and play - no account needed.
How is solitaire scored?
It depends on the mode. Standard scoring rewards cards moved to the foundations plus a speed bonus, so faster, tidier solves score higher. Vegas scoring is a cash game: you "buy" the deck for $52 and earn $5 per card banked, so your score can go negative. Leaderboards rank by finish time.
What is the hardest solitaire game?
Russian Solitaire, Forty Thieves and 4-suit Spider are the hardest common variants - under one deal in ten falls even to strong players. Russian demands same-suit builds with free-wheeling moves; Forty Thieves gives one pass through the stock; 4-suit Spider needs eight full same-suit runs.
Is it cheating to use undo or hints?
No. Undo and hints are learning tools, not cheating - they let you explore lines of play and understand why a deal is won or lost. If you want a pure test, play without them, but nothing stops you using them casually. Leaderboard times naturally reward players who solve cleanly and quickly.
Do I need an account to play?
No. Everything is playable as a guest - your stats and unfinished games save in your browser automatically. A free account is optional: it syncs your records across devices and keeps a permanent name on the leaderboard, but you never need one to play.
How do you play solitaire?
In the classic Klondike game, you deal seven tableau columns and build them down in alternating colors, while moving Aces up to four foundation piles and building each foundation up by suit to the King. Draw from the stock to find cards you need. Clear all 52 cards to the foundations to win.
What is the goal of solitaire?
In the most common games like Klondike and FreeCell, the goal is to move all 52 cards onto four foundation piles, each built up in suit from Ace to King. Other families win differently: Spider forms complete same-suit runs, while Pyramid and TriPeaks clear the board by matching cards away.
How many cards are used in solitaire?
Most solitaire games, including Klondike, FreeCell, Pyramid and TriPeaks, use one standard 52-card deck with no jokers. A few use two full decks shuffled together, 104 cards in all: Spider and Forty Thieves are the best-known double-deck games.
Why is it called solitaire?
The word solitaire comes from the French solitaire, meaning solitary or alone, because these are games played by a single person. In Britain and much of Europe the same games are called patience, after the calm persistence they require. Both names describe the same family of one-player card games.
Is solitaire luck or skill?
It is both, and the balance depends on the game. The shuffle decides whether a deal can be won at all, but skill decides whether you actually win it. FreeCell is almost pure skill because every card is visible, while Klondike mixes luck of the draw with real decision-making.
How do you win at solitaire?
Win more often by uncovering face-down cards as early as possible, playing from the column with the most hidden cards, and not rushing every card to the foundations too soon. Empty a column to park a King, and always plan the whole sequence before drawing fresh cards from the stock.
Can you move more than one card at a time?
Yes. In Klondike, Yukon and most tableau games you can pick up a correctly ordered run of face-up cards and move it as a single group. FreeCell technically moves one card at a time, so the size of a group you can shift depends on how many free cells and empty columns are open.
What happens when you run out of moves?
If no legal moves remain and you can't draw any more cards, the deal is lost, which means that shuffle reached a dead position. You can undo to try a different line, or simply start a new game. Some deals are provably unwinnable no matter how well you play.
How do the foundations work in solitaire?
The foundations are the four piles you build to win most solitaire games. Each holds one suit and is built upward in order: Ace first, then two, three, and so on up to King. When all four foundations are complete, all 52 cards are home and the game is won.
What is Klondike solitaire?
Klondike is the version of solitaire most people simply call 'solitaire.' You deal seven tableau columns, build them down in alternating colors, and move cards up to four foundations by suit from Ace to King. Microsoft bundled it with Windows 3.0 in 1990, making it one of the most-played games ever.
What is the difference between Turn 1 and Turn 3?
The difference is how many cards you draw from the Klondike stock. Turn 1 flips a single card each draw, so every stock card is reachable and about 80% of deals are theoretically winnable. Turn 3 flips three at once and only the top is playable, hiding cards and cutting your win rate.
What is Spider solitaire?
Spider is a popular two-deck solitaire played across ten tableau columns. You build cards down in sequence and complete full King-to-Ace runs of a single suit, which then clear the board. Winning needs eight complete runs. You pick 1, 2 or 4 suits, which sets the difficulty from easy to brutal.
How do you win Spider solitaire?
Win Spider by prioritizing same-suit sequences, uncovering face-down cards early, and emptying a column whenever possible so you have room to maneuver. Never deal a new row from the stock until you've made every useful move first, and start on one suit while you learn.
What is FreeCell?
FreeCell is a solitaire variant in which all 52 cards are dealt face up from the start, and four 'free cells' let you set cards aside temporarily. Because there's no hidden information and about 99.999% of deals are winnable, it's the purest test of skill in the genre.
Is FreeCell always winnable?
Almost, but not quite. About 99.999% of random FreeCell deals are solvable with perfect play, so a loss is nearly always a mistake rather than a dead shuffle. Of the famous 32,000 numbered Microsoft deals, only one, deal #11982, is provably unwinnable.
What is Pyramid solitaire?
Pyramid is a matching solitaire played with a 28-card pyramid. You remove pairs of exposed cards that add up to 13, with Kings removed on their own. The goal is to clear the entire pyramid. Under strict rules it's tough, with only about 20% of deals winnable.
What is TriPeaks solitaire?
TriPeaks is a quick matching solitaire where you clear three overlapping peaks of cards. You remove any exposed card that's one rank higher or lower than the current waste card, wrapping King to Ace. Long chains score big, and a full game takes only a minute or two.
What is Golf solitaire?
Golf solitaire is a quick matching game played across seven tableau columns. You remove any exposed card that's one rank above or below the current waste card, drawing from the stock when stuck. It's scored like golf: the fewer cards you leave behind, the lower and better your score.
What is Yukon solitaire?
Yukon is a single-deck relative of Klondike with two big twists: there's no stock, so all 52 cards are dealt to the tableau up front, and you can move any face-up card along with everything on top of it, even if those cards aren't in sequence. About 80% of deals are winnable.
What is Canfield solitaire?
Canfield is a classic, notoriously difficult single-deck solitaire that began as an 1890s casino game. It features a 13-card reserve pile and foundations that start on a random rank rather than the Ace. In Britain the same game is known as Demon.
What is Forty Thieves solitaire?
Forty Thieves is a challenging two-deck solitaire, sometimes called Napoleon at St Helena. You build eight foundations up by suit and the tableau down by suit, one card at a time, with only a single pass through the stock. The strict rules and no redeals make it one of the harder classics.
How many types of solitaire are there?
There are hundreds of documented solitaire variants, and Victorian patience books alone catalogued dozens. In practice they fall into a few families: builders like Klondike and FreeCell, same-suit packers like Spider, and matching games like Pyramid and TriPeaks. We offer 11 of the most-loved games.
How long does a game of solitaire take?
It depends on the game. Quick matching games like TriPeaks and Golf finish in a minute or two, a typical Klondike or FreeCell game runs 3 to 10 minutes, and larger two-deck games like Spider or Forty Thieves can take 10 to 20 minutes. Experienced players go much faster.
What is a good solitaire time?
For Klondike, finishing under two minutes is a solid time, and strong players routinely come in around a minute or less. Every game has its own pace, so the best benchmark is the leaderboard for that variant. Fast times come from clean, confident play with little hesitation.
How do you get better at solitaire?
Improve by uncovering hidden cards as early as possible, planning several moves ahead before committing, and not rushing cards to the foundations. Use undo to study why a deal was lost, and practice full-information games like FreeCell where every loss teaches a clear lesson.
What is Vegas scoring in solitaire?
Vegas scoring turns solitaire into a cash game. You 'buy' the deck for $52 up front, then earn $5 for every card you move to the foundations. Clear the whole game and you're up $208; stall early and your score goes negative. Unlike standard scoring, there's no time bonus.
Can I play solitaire offline?
Yes, for the most part. Because Solitaire.now is a progressive web app, single-player games keep working offline once the page has loaded, and your stats save locally on your device. Only features that need live data, like multiplayer racing and the shared leaderboard, require a connection.
How are my stats and progress saved?
As a guest, your stats and unfinished games save automatically in your browser on the device you're using, no signup needed. A free account adds cross-device syncing, so your win counts, best times and records follow you between your phone, tablet and computer.