Klondike Solitaire
How to play Klondike
Klondike is a one-deck solitaire game with seven tableau columns of mostly face-down cards, a stock turned onto a waste pile, and four foundations built up by suit from Ace to King.
Turn one card at a time from the stock.
About Klondike
Every card turned from the stock is playable at once. Each time you turn the waste back into the stock, you lose 100 points.
Because the stock turns one card at a time, every stock card shows on every pass, in the same order, and each can be played the moment it appears. Passes are unlimited, so a card you leave on the waste will come round again.
That puts the pressure on the tableau rather than the stock. Take a waste card only when it earns something: it frees a face-down card, extends a foundation, or gives a King an empty column. If you play for score, make every useful tableau move before turning the waste over, since each extra pass costs 100 points.
The goal of Klondike
Move all 52 cards onto the four foundations, one for each suit, building each from Ace up to King.
How to set up Klondike
One deck is dealt into seven tableau columns holding one to seven cards, with only the last card of each column face up. The remaining 24 cards form the stock.
Klondike rules
In the tableau, build down in alternating red and black: a red Seven goes on a black Eight. You can move a face-up card together with all the cards on top of it. Only a King, or a run headed by a King, can fill an empty column.
When a move uncovers a face-down card, it turns face up. Turn cards from the stock onto the waste; the top waste card can go to the tableau or a foundation. Once the stock is empty, the waste turns back into the stock: as often as you like in Klondike and Draw Three, twice in Las Vegas Solitaire Turn 3, and never in Las Vegas Solitaire. A card on a foundation may also come back down to the tableau.
Drag a card or a run to move it, or click it to send it to its best legal place: a foundation if one takes it, otherwise a tableau column. With Autoplay switched off in Settings, a click does nothing and only a drag moves cards.
Klondike scoring
Moving a card from the waste to the tableau scores 5 points, and moving any card to a foundation scores 10. Turning over a face-down card in the tableau scores 5. Taking a card back off a foundation costs 15, and the score never drops below zero.
A win adds a time bonus that is larger the faster you finish.
How to win at Klondike
You win when all four foundations hold thirteen cards. Once the stock and waste are empty and every tableau card is face up, the deal is as good as won, and with Auto complete switched on in Settings the game moves the remaining cards up for you.
Klondike strategy tips
Turn over face-down cards whenever you can; the longer columns hide the most cards.
Empty a column only when a King is ready to move into it.
Send Aces and Twos to the foundations straight away; nothing you will need is ever built on them.
When two cards could move onto the same spot, take the one from the column with more face-down cards beneath it.
Klondike questions and answers
Is every Klondike deal winnable?
No, a shuffled Klondike deal can be impossible to win. Tried on 100 fresh deals of each game, the solver behind the Hint button proved 82 winnable when the stock turns one card at a time and 67 in Draw Three, where it also proved 9 lost; with eight times the search it proved 86 and 72. Those are wins found, so the real share is at least that. If you want only boards that can be won, open the menu beside New deal and switch on Winnable: each new board is then shuffled until the game's solver proves it can be won, unless it runs out of tries. The Hint button also searches for a winning line before it suggests a move.
How is Klondike solitaire scored?
Klondike scores 10 points for each card sent to a foundation and 5 for each waste card played to the tableau or face-down card turned over. Taking a card off a foundation costs 15, and turning the waste back over costs 100, or 20 in Draw Three. A win adds 700,000 divided by the seconds since your first move, so a five-minute win earns 2,333 more. Las Vegas Solitaire and Las Vegas Solitaire Turn 3 keep a dollar balance instead: each deal costs $52, each card on a foundation pays $5, and there is no time bonus.
How many times can you go through the deck in Klondike?
In Klondike and Draw Three, as many times as you like. Each time the stock runs out, click it to turn the waste back over. The only cost is to your score, 100 points per pass when you turn one card at a time and 20 points per pass in Draw Three. Las Vegas Solitaire goes through the stock once, and Las Vegas Solitaire Turn 3 three times.
Can you move cards back off the foundations in Klondike?
Yes. In Klondike the top card of any foundation can come back down onto a tableau column where it fits, for example to give a lower card of the other colour somewhere to go. It costs 15 points each time, and the score never falls below zero.
Is there a daily Klondike game?
Yes. Klondike and Draw Three each have a daily board, the same deal for everyone that day, dealt with Winnable switched on. The two Las Vegas games have none. You need to be logged in to play it. The daily menu in the header shows a calendar of every day since the dailies began, marking the days you played and won, so you can go back to earlier boards too.
Can you undo moves in Klondike?
Yes. Press Undo or Ctrl+Z to take back Klondike moves one at a time, up to the last 500. Undo puts the board back exactly as it was, score included, so it costs nothing. Once the game is won, Undo is switched off.