Spider Solitaire
How to play Spider
Spider is a solitaire card game played with 104 cards in ten piles, where runs of thirteen cards in one suit, from King down to Ace, are built and cleared from the table.
104 cards dealt into ten piles and cleared in runs of one suit from King down to Ace.
About Spider
Spider deals all four suits, two of each card. Of the eight cards one rank higher than any card, only two are of its own suit, so most runs are built across suits and move in pieces until they are sorted.
Each suit comes twice in the 104 cards, so the eight runs that leave are two of clubs, two of diamonds, two of hearts and two of spades.
Four suits are also the hardest Spider for the game's solver. Of 100 fresh deals it searched at the Hint's budget of 167,000 positions, it settled only 17, all of them wins. On a board it cannot settle, the Hint falls back on ranking moves: one that finishes a run first, then one that turns a face-down card or empties a pile, then one onto its own suit.
The goal of Spider
Build eight runs of thirteen cards, each from King down to Ace in one suit. A finished run leaves the table at once, and the game is won when all eight are gone.
How to set up Spider
Spider is played with 104 cards, two packs' worth, shuffled together. 54 of them are dealt into ten piles: five face-down cards under each of the first four piles, four under each of the other six, and one face-up card on top of every pile. The other 50 cards are the stock.
Spider rules
A card can be laid on any card one rank higher, whatever its suit, so a Seven may go on any Eight. A King is never laid on an Ace.
A pile's top card can always move. A face-up card lower down moves together with the cards above it only when they run down from it in one suit, each one rank below the card under it. An empty pile takes any card or any run that may move.
Press the stock to deal one card face up onto every pile, ten cards at a time, five deals in all. The stock will not deal while any pile is empty. Whenever a face-down card is left on top of its pile, it is turned face up.
When thirteen cards of one suit run from King down to Ace on top of a pile, they leave the table at once for a foundation, whether a move or a deal completed them.
Click a face-up card to move it with the run above it onto a pile whose top card is one rank higher, of its own suit first, else into the first empty pile. Drag a card to choose its place yourself.
How to win at Spider
You win when all eight runs are off the table. There is no redeal and no auto complete, since finished runs already leave on their own.
Spider strategy tips
Build in suit whenever you have the choice. A card laid on another suit is allowed, but the cards on it no longer move together with the card below, so the pile has to be taken apart in pieces later.
Empty a pile when you can. It takes any card or run, which makes it the best place to sort mixed cards back into suits, but fill it again before you deal, since the stock will not deal while a pile is empty.
Turn up the face-down cards early. 44 cards start hidden, and each one turned gives you another card to build with.
A King lies on no card, so it can only go into an empty pile, and there it stays until its run leaves: a whole pile may not move into another empty one. Give an empty pile to a King only when you mean that pile to hold its run.
Spider questions and answers
How do you play Spider solitaire?
Shuffle 104 cards together, deal 54 of them into ten piles with one face-up card on each, and keep the other 50 as the stock. Lay a card on any card one rank higher, move runs of one suit together, and press the stock to deal a card onto every pile. You win when eight runs of thirteen, each from King down to Ace in one suit, have left the table.
What is the difference between Spider, Spider Two Suits and Spider One Suit?
Only the suits in the 104 cards. Spider deals all four suits, two of each card, Spider Two Suits deals spades and hearts, four of each card, and Spider One Suit deals spades alone, eight of each card. The deal and every rule are the same, but with fewer suits more of the cards you lay down are on their own suit and can move together.
Can you deal from the stock with an empty pile in Spider?
No. The stock will not deal while any pile is empty, so fill every empty pile with a card or a run before you press it.
How many times does the stock deal in Spider?
Five times. It holds 50 cards and each press deals ten, one onto every pile, so the fifth press empties it and nothing is dealt again.
What happens to a finished run in Spider?
A run of thirteen cards of one suit, from King down to Ace, on top of a pile leaves the table at once and goes onto a foundation, where it stays. You do not have to move it yourself.
Can every Spider deal be won?
Not necessarily, because an ordinary shuffle is not checked before you play it. Of 1,125 shuffled four-suit Spider deals the game's solver searched, at up to a million positions each, it proved 45% can be won. A deal it gave up on may still be winnable, so 45% is a lower bound, not the odds of a shuffle. With Winnable on, in the menu beside New deal, every new board is a deal the solver has proved can be won. Hint asks the same solver for a winning line before it suggests a move.
Is there a daily Spider game?
Yes. Spider has a daily board, the same deal for everyone that day, dealt the way a Winnable board is. You need to be logged in to play it.