Klondike Solitaire — Rules, Draw 1 vs Draw 3, and How to Win More
Klondike is the solitaire most people mean by the word. Twenty-eight cards are dealt into seven columns — one card in the first, seven in the last — with only the top card of each face up. The other twenty-four form the stock. The goal is to move all fifty-two cards onto the four foundations, one per suit, building each from Ace up to King.
In the columns, you build downward in alternating colours: a red 7 on a black 8, a black 6 on that red 7. You can move a single card or a whole correctly ordered run at once. When you move the last face-up card off a column, the card beneath turns over. Only a King, or a run starting with a King, can be placed in an empty column. Tap the stock to turn cards onto the waste pile; when the stock runs out, tap again to turn the waste back over and go through it again — passes here are unlimited.
Draw 1 turns one card at a time and is the friendlier game. Draw 3 turns three, but only the top one can be played, so cards further down stay buried until the cards above them are used. Draw 3 is harder and slower, and closer to the version on old desktop computers.
A few habits win more games. Turn over face-down cards before anything else — information is the scarce resource. Do not rush cards to the foundations if they are still needed as landing spots in the columns. Empty a column only when you have a King ready for it. And use undo freely to test an idea.
Tap a card to pick it up and tap where it should go; tap it twice to send it straight to its foundation. Once every card is face up and the stock is empty, Auto-finish plays the rest for you.
How to play Solitaire
- Choose Draw 1 (easier) or Draw 3 (harder) to deal.
- Tap a face-up card to pick it up, then tap the column or foundation to place it.
- Build columns down in alternating colours; build foundations up by suit from Ace to King.
- Tap the stock to draw; tap the empty stock to turn the waste over again.
- Tap a card twice to send it to its foundation. Use Undo to take back moves and Auto-finish to end a won game.