About our card & solitaire games
Our free card games bring the classic solitaire family to your browser: Klondike Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, FreeCell and tile-matching Mahjong solitaire. Each one was rebuilt with smooth drag and drop, tap-to-move on touch screens, unlimited undo and hints, so you can play the way you like without fighting the controls.
Solitaire is the definition of a calm break. There is no opponent to wait for and no clock unless you want one. That said, every game here also records your time, and our leaderboards show the fastest solves for players who like a bit of competition.
Klondike and Mahjong both have a daily deal, everyone gets the same one, and the daily Klondike deal is always winnable. Full screen play works on desktop and mobile, and there is nothing to download.
Where to start
SolitaireThe one everyone knows. Draw 1 for a relaxed game, Draw 3 for a real challenge.
Spider SolitaireStart with 1 suit to learn, then graduate to 2 or 4 suits for a long, deep game.
FreeCellThe thinker's solitaire: almost every deal is solvable, so a loss is a puzzle to revisit.
MahjongBest for unwinding. Match pairs of free tiles at your own pace.Advertisement
Klondike, Spider, FreeCell or Mahjong?
All four are solitaire games, but they reward different kinds of play.
- Klondike is the classic seven-column layout with a stock pile. Luck plays a real part, which keeps it light. Draw 1 is forgiving; Draw 3 makes you plan around which cards you can actually reach.
- Spider uses two decks and ten columns. You build full King-to-Ace runs in one suit to clear them. With 1 suit it is relaxing; with 4 suits it is one of the toughest solitaire games around.
- FreeCell deals every card face up, with four free cells as temporary storage. Because you can see everything, skill matters far more than luck.
- Mahjong solitaire swaps cards for tiles. You remove matching pairs of tiles that are free on at least one side, working down through layouts such as the Turtle.
If you are not sure, start with Klondike, then try FreeCell when you want more control over the outcome.
Tips to win more solitaire games
- Klondike: prioritize moves that turn over face-down cards in the tableau. Empty columns are valuable, so only fill one with a King when that King frees up something useful.
- Spider: try to build in the same suit whenever you can, even if a mixed-suit move looks tempting. Mixed runs are harder to move later.
- FreeCell: treat free cells as a scarce resource. Filling all four early often leaves you stuck. Freeing Aces and low cards near the top of columns is usually the best opening plan.
- Mahjong: look first at tiles that block the most other tiles, such as those on the top layer and at the ends of long rows. If three matching tiles are free, think about which pair to remove to leave the fourth reachable.
In every game, undo is your friend. Using it to explore an alternative line is how most players learn to see further ahead.
A brief history of patience games
Solitaire card games, called patience in Britain, were popular in Europe by the 1800s, and many of the variants still played today were described in books from that era. Klondike's name is often linked to the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada in the late 1890s. Solitaire's modern fame owes a great deal to computers: versions bundled with Microsoft Windows from the early 1990s introduced it to millions of office workers.
Mahjong solitaire is a much younger game. It borrows the tiles of the traditional Chinese four-player game Mahjong but uses them for a single-player matching puzzle that first appeared on computers in the 1980s.
Frequently asked questions
Is every game of Klondike Solitaire winnable?
No. Some Klondike deals cannot be won however well you play, which is part of the game's charm. Our daily Solitaire deal is always a winnable one, so it is a fair test every time.
What is the difference between Draw 1 and Draw 3?
In Draw 1 you turn one card at a time from the stock, so every card is reachable. In Draw 3 you turn three at a time and can only play the top one, which makes the game noticeably harder and more strategic.
Is every FreeCell deal solvable?
Almost. In the famous set of 32,000 numbered deals that shipped with Windows FreeCell, only one (deal #11982) is known to be unsolvable. Our FreeCell uses numbered deals too, so you can replay a specific game.
How many suits should I use in Spider Solitaire?
Start with 1 suit while you learn the flow of the game. 2 suits adds real challenge, and 4 suits is a serious test that experienced players may still lose regularly.
Is Mahjong solitaire the same as Mahjong?
No. Traditional Mahjong is a four-player game similar in spirit to rummy. Mahjong solitaire uses the same tiles for a one-player matching puzzle, which is what you will find in our Mahjong game.