Do you have a deck of cards and an interest in playing Klondike Solitaire, sometimes called Classic Solitaire? This tutorial will show you the steps to set up, play, and win Klondike Solitaire with real cards. This is also called playing Klondike Solitaire by hand.
Klondike Layout Terminology
Klondike has four layout locations: the stock, the discard, the tableau, and the foundation.
Stock
The stock can only be drawn from to move cards to the discard. The cards in stock are face down.
Discard
The discard cards are face up and only the top card can be moved. You can move cards from the discard to the tableau or directly to the foundation.
Tableau
The tableau contains 7 columns of cards that are "packed" to form alternating color, descending value columns of cards.
Foundation
The foundation consists of 4 piles (1 for each suit) of cards. The cards are placed there at any time during gameplay and are "built" Ace through King.
| Location | Number of Cards |
|---|---|
| Tableau | 28 |
| Stock | 24 |
| Discard | 0 |
| Foundation | 0 |
How to Set Up Klondike Solitaire with Cards
To start, you need a standard deck of playing cards. Remove the jokers and set them aside in a safe place because Klondike does not use jokers. We will use the 52 cards that are Aces through Kings of each suit. Next, shuffle the deck so that the cards are distributed randomly and place the deck face down.
Create the seven column tableau using the next steps.
Step 1: Lay out seven cards in a row with the leftmost card face up and all the rest face down.
Step 2: Now lay out six cards in a row with the leftmost card face up. Lay the face up card on the second column.
Step 3: Now lay out five cards in a row with the leftmost card face up. Lay the face up card on the third column.
Step 4: Now lay out four cards in a row with the leftmost card face up. Lay the face up card on the fourth column.
Step 5: Now lay out three cards in a row with the leftmost card face up. Lay the face up card on the fifth column.
Step 6: Now lay out two cards in a row with the leftmost card face up. Lay the face up card on the sixth column.
Step 7: Now lay out one card face up on the seventh column.
Step 8: Now place the remaining cards face down in a pile for the stock. We have set up Klondike Solitaire.
Klondike Solitaire Card Movements
Now that we are starting gameplay, you will have to choose if you will play the 3-card draw variation or the 1-card draw variation. 3-card draw Klondike has a lower chance of winning than 1-card draw Klondike. In the 1-card draw variation, a single card is drawn from the stock at a time, and placed in the discard. Only one card is available in the discard at a given time. In the 3-card draw variation, three cards are drawn at a time and placed in the discard. Only the top card from the discard is available in the 3-card draw variation.
The basic idea of Klondike is to create columns of alternating color, descending value cards in the tableau and then build up from Aces all on the same suit in the foundation. Cards can move along with any cards on top of them if the movement conforms to the rules in the table below.
| Tableau | Stock | Discard | Foundation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tableau to | moving card is one less value and opposite color of card it will lay on or is King if column is empty | moving card is one greater and same suit of card it will lay on or is Ace | ||
| Stock to | Draw 1 or 3 cards (depending on the variation) from stock | |||
| Discard to | moving card is one less value and opposite color of card it will lay on | Recycle the discard back when no cards are left in stock | moving card is one greater and same suit of card it will lay on or is Ace | |
| Foundation to | moving card is one less value and opposite color of card it will lay on or is King if column is empty |
Example Klondike Solitaire Card Movements
Discard to Tableau
In the first example, we are playing 1-card draw Klondike and have drawn a 9 of Spades from the stock and placed it in the discard. This card can be placed on the 10 of Hearts in the tableau.
Tableau Column to Tableau Column
Discard to Foundation
The game continues as you build the foundation and pack the tableau.
Klondike Solitaire Endgame
The game ends when you are either blocked and there is no move that will advance more cards to the foundation or all Aces through Kings are placed in the foundation. You win Klondike Solitaire by filling the foundation with the deck of cards placed Aces through Kings.
