How to Play Solitaire

An illustrated guide for Klondike Solitaire Rules and Setup

by Tommy Leung on

There are many mind-numbing ways to learn the game of Solitaire. Like articles with walls of text, some words in bold, and others in ALL CAPS because that definitely helps you learn better.

If that’s what you’re looking for then you’ve come to the wrong place. In fact, you’ve found the only article where illustrations are all hand-drawn and take up more space than text!*

We’ll go over the rules and setup for the most popular version of Solitaire known as Klondike Solitaire—if you didn’t know that there were other versions then this is the one you are looking for.

*Might not be 100% true but it’s the only one we know of!

Things You’ll Need

  1. Traditional deck of 52 playing cards (Jokers are not welcome here)
  2. Mostly flat surface big enough to have a meal on
  3. Favorite drink and/or music (optional if you hate fun)

Don’t have a deck of cards or don’t eat on tables? Try our digital version instead!

Setting up the Game

Klondike Solitiare set up

The main sections are the Table, Stock, Waste Pile, and 4 Foundations. They should be placed in roughly the same way as shown here.

The Table

First, shuffle your deck of cards and then deal 1 card face-up to the first column in the Table. Then deal 1 card face-down to each of the 6 other columns. You should have a row of 7 cards where the first one is face-up and the rest are face-down.

Next, you’ll deal a new row of cards starting with the second column where the first card in the row is face-up and the rest are face-down. This row will only have 6 cards. Each card should overlap the face-down cards from the previous row with a comfortable vertical margin between them.

Dealing cards to the table

Repeat this again with a new row starting with the third column by dealing a face-up card and then 4 face-down cards.

Keep going until you deal a single face-up card to the seventh column.

The Stock

The remaining cards become your Stock. It should be placed above the leftmost or rightmost Table column.

Once play starts, you’ll be able to draw cards from the top of the Stock and place them into the Waste Pile. The Waste Pile is typically next to the Stock.

Stock and Waste Pile

The Foundations

The last thing you need is to make room for a row of 4 Foundation piles. It is usually placed on the opposite side of the Stock.

Each Foundation pile will be home to cards of a specific Suit (Spades, Hearts, Clubs, and Diamonds) in order from lowest to highest Rank or what nerds call ascending order.

The Goal of the Game

To win a game of Solitaire you need to move all the cards in the Table columns and in the Stock to the 4 Foundation piles while following a set of rules.

Table Rules

  1. Only the topmost face-up card in any column can be moved. Any card covered by another card cannot be moved.
Correct and Incorrect table move
  1. A face-up card can only be placed onto another column if it maintains order from highest to lowest Rank with alternating Suit colors. Or more simply:
    • The Rank is 1 less than the card being covered.
    • The Suit color is different from the card being covered.
Correct and Incorrect placement of card onto another column
  1. Only a King can move to an empty column space. Other cards are peasants.
Correct and Incorrect placement of card into empty column

The act of moving cards within the Table is known as Building. This obscure piece of knowledge will make you very popular at the next party.**

**Fingers were crossed when this was written

Stock Rules

  1. Cards cannot be shuffled
  2. Cards can only be dealt face-up into the Waste Pile from top to bottom
Correct and Incorrect dealing of cards from Stock into Waste Pile

There are 2 variants of Klondike that will change how many cards get dealt from the Stock. They are known as Draw 1 and Draw 3.

Draw 1 and Draw 3 variants of Klondike Solitaire

You’ll never guess it but:

  • Draw 1 is dealing 1 card into the Waste Pile each time
  • Draw 3 is dealing 3 cards into the Waste Pile each time

Draw 3 will make the game harder so choose your own adventure wisely.

Waste Pile Rules

  1. Only the topmost card can be moved into the Table or a Foundation. If it’s covered you shouldn’t touch it.
Correct and Incorrect selection of card from Waste Pile
  1. Cards cannot be shuffled.
  2. Cards cannot be moved back into the Waste Pile. No takebacks
Card cannot be moved back into Waste Pile

If the Stock is empty and the topmost card cannot be used then flip over the cards in the Waste Pile so that they can be used again as the Stock. Be sure to keep the order the same or you’ll break rule number 2!

Foundation Rules

  1. Each Foundation only accepts cards of the same Suit. Others are not welcome
  2. Cards can only be moved onto a Foundation if it maintains a sequential ascending rank order of a single suit. If that made no sense then:
    • The Rank is 1 more than the card being covered
    • The Suit is the same as the card being covered
Correct and Incorrect placement of cards into Foundation
  1. Only Aces can be moved into an empty Foundation. Perks of being number one
Correct and Incorrect first card into empty Foundation
  1. Cards can be moved back into a Table column as long as it follows Table Rules.
Correct and Incorrect return of card from Foundation to Table

And that’s all there is to it!

It may take several games of solitaire before you win your first game or you’re a prodigy and will win on your first try. Either way you’ll be able to win faster and more often the more you play.

To help increase your odds of winning we’ve compiled a list of tips and strategies you can steal here.