How to Play Spider Solitaire: Rules, Legal Moves, and a Worked Example

Substantively reviewed August 14, 2026 · Editorial policy · Request a correction

Editorial diagram: Spider Solitaire sequence check. Build downward; move a packed run only when suits match. — Spider Solitaire sequence check: Build downward; move a packed run only when suits match.

Spider Solitaire looks familiar if you already know Klondike, but the two games reward different decisions. Spider uses two packs, has no separate foundation area, and only lets you move a multi-card unit when the cards inside that unit are in rank order and all in the same suit.

This guide follows the Bicycle Cards rules for a physical two-deck game. Software versions can change the opening deal or offer one-suit and two-suit difficulty modes, so check the help screen of the version you are playing when its layout differs.

Spider Solitaire rules at a glance

Item	Rule used in this guide
Cards	Two standard 52-card packs, for 104 cards total
Tableau	Ten piles of five cards; four face down and the top card face up
Stock	Fifty-four cards after the opening deal
Build	Place a card or legal unit on the next-higher rank, regardless of the destination suit
Move as a unit	Only face-up cards that form an unbroken same-suit sequence
Empty pile	May take a movable unit; a king has no rank above it, so it can move only to a space
New stock row	Fill every empty tableau pile before dealing
Win	Remove eight complete same-suit runs of 13 cards

The goal

Your goal is to assemble a complete 13-card run in one suit, from king down to ace in the physical stack. Bicycle describes the same run from its exposed end as ace through king. Once all 13 cards of one suit are together, remove that run from play. Removing eight runs clears all 104 cards and wins the game.

The count is a useful rules check: two packs contain 104 cards, and eight completed runs contain 8 × 13 = 104 cards. Spider does not use the four foundation piles familiar from Klondike Solitaire.

How to deal the Bicycle version

Shuffle two standard 52-card packs together.
Deal ten tableau piles, one row at a time, until each pile has five cards.
Keep the first four cards in each pile face down and turn the fifth, top card face up.
Keep the remaining 54 cards face down as the stock.

The arithmetic reconciles the full pack: the tableau starts with 10 × 5 = 50 cards, leaving 104 − 50 = 54. Those 54 cards supply five full rows of ten and one final row of four cards dealt to the first four piles.

Which moves are legal?

Move one exposed card

You may place an exposed card on a card exactly one rank higher. For example, any jack can go on any queen. The suits do not have to match for this single placement.

Move a same-suit sequence as one unit

A group can move together only if all its face-up cards are consecutive and in the same suit. A visible stack with Q♠ at the bottom, J♠ above it, and 10♠ on top is a movable unit. That whole unit can go onto any exposed king because the bottom card of the moving unit is a queen.

A mixed-suit stack can still be built one card at a time, but it cannot travel as one unit across the mixed-suit break. That distinction is the central movement rule in Spider.

Reveal a covered card

When you remove all face-up cards from a pile and expose a face-down card, turn that card face up. It is now available for play.

Use an empty tableau pile

An empty pile can hold a legal movable unit. A king cannot be placed on a higher rank because no such rank exists, so a space is its only destination. Before dealing another stock row, however, every empty pile must be filled.

How the stock works

When you have made the moves you want, deal a new face-up card onto each tableau pile. You may not do this while a tableau pile is empty. Under the Bicycle deal used here, the last stock deal has only four cards, which go onto the first four piles.

A stock deal can cover carefully arranged cards, so it is worth checking three things first: whether you can reveal another face-down card, whether a same-suit unit can be lengthened, and whether every empty pile has been filled.

Worked move example

Suppose pile 1 has a face-down card covered by a movable unit: Q♠ at the bottom, then J♠, with 10♠ on top. Pile 2 has an exposed K♥.

Check the moving unit: Q♠–J♠–10♠ is consecutive and all spades, so the three cards may move together.
Check the destination rank: the bottom card of the unit is Q♠, and K♥ is exactly one rank higher.
Ignore the destination suit for placement: the queen may go on the heart king even though the suits differ.
Move the full unit to pile 2, then turn the newly exposed card in pile 1 face up.

This is an editorial example, not a recorded deal. It demonstrates why two tests are separate: cards inside a moving unit must match suit, while the card receiving that unit only has to be the next-higher rank.

A practical move-checking routine

Identify the bottom card of the unit you want to move. Its rank determines where the unit may land.
Check every card inside the unit. The ranks must be consecutive and the suit must stay the same.
Check the destination. It must be empty or show the next-higher rank.
Look underneath. Prefer moves that expose a face-down card or free a useful pile when other choices are equal.
Audit the tableau before using the stock. No pile may be empty when you deal the next row.

Common rule mistakes

Treating any descending stack as movable: a mixed-suit stack may exist, but only its eligible same-suit portion can move as a unit.
Moving onto the same rank: the destination must be exactly one rank higher than the bottom card being moved.
Dealing with an empty pile: fill every space before adding a stock row.
Removing a mixed-suit run: only a complete 13-card run in one suit leaves the tableau.
Assuming every app uses this exact deal: compare its opening layout and help screen with the stated rules before applying the card counts in this guide.

Quick answers

Can I place a card on a different suit?

Yes. The destination suit does not matter if its rank is exactly one higher. But a multi-card unit can move together only when the cards inside it are consecutive and share a suit.

Can any card go into an empty pile?

Under the Bicycle rules used here, a space may receive a movable unit. A king can move only to a space because there is no higher rank for it to land on.

When is a run removed?

Remove it when all 13 ranks from king through ace form one uninterrupted same-suit run. Eight removed runs account for all 104 cards.

Where to play Spider Solitaire online

This site provides rules rather than a playable board. The external pages below were checked on August 13, 2026; JavaScript and provider terms may affect access.

Play Spider 1 Suit at 247 Solitaire — its menu also links 2- and 4-suit versions.
Play Spider at Solitaire Bliss — the page links its 1-, 2-, and 4-suit modes and requires JavaScript.
See the complete verified solitaire entrance directory.

Related solitaire guides

How to Play Klondike Solitaire: Rules and a Worked Example — Review the familiar Klondike layout before comparing stock and tableau rules.
How to Play Pyramid Solitaire: Pair Values, Stock Rules, and an Example — Switch from descending runs to Pyramid’s exposed-card pairs totaling 13.
How to Play Accordion Solitaire: Left-One, Left-Three Rules, and an Example — Compare Spider’s long sequences with Accordion’s pile-compression objective.