How to win Spider Solitaire: building in suit, empty columns and the stock

The rules in brief

• Two decks, 104 cards: 54 are dealt into ten columns (six cards in the first four, five in the rest) with only the top card face up. The other 50 wait in the stock.
• You can place any card on a card one rank higher, in any suit: a 7 on any 8.
• A group of cards moves together only when it runs down in one suit, like 8♥ 7♥ 6♥.
• Any card or run can go into an empty column.
• A full run from King down to Ace in one suit leaves the table by itself. Clear all eight to win.
• Dealing from the stock adds one card to every column. You can deal when no column is empty.

The opening: turn cards over

Most of the deal is hidden at the start, and every face-down card you turn over gives you more options. In the opening, prefer moves that expose a new card, and among those, moves in the columns with the fewest hidden cards: those are the ones you can empty first.

Build in suit whenever you can

Placing a 6♠ on a 7♥ is legal, but the two cards are now stuck together: you can't move them as a pair. A run in one suit stays flexible, because it moves as a block. When you have a choice of where to put a card, pick the one of the same suit.

Mixed runs aren't wrong, they're often the only move. Just know you'll have to take them apart card by card later, so build them where they won't block cards you need.

Empty columns

An empty column is your best tool. It can hold any card or run, so you can use it to take apart a mixed run, reorder cards, or reach a hidden card underneath.

• Empty the shortest column early, even if it takes a few moves.
• Don't fill an empty column just because you can. Use it as a temporary space, and fill it for good only with a King or a long run.
• Remember that you can't deal while a column is empty, so fill one before you need the stock.

When to deal from the stock

Each deal puts a new card on top of all ten columns, covering your runs. So deal only when you've run out of useful moves, and prepare first: finish every move that turns over a card, and gather your runs so as few of them as possible get covered.

There are five deals in total. When the stock runs out, the game is decided by what's left on the table, so the last deal deserves the most care.

Completing runs

When a column holds a whole King-to-Ace run in one suit, the run leaves the table automatically and the card underneath turns over. Each completed run frees space for the rest of the game.

Don't break a long same-suit run to make a short-term move unless you can rebuild it; a run from King down to 5 is most of the way to leaving the table.

One suit, two suits or four

• One suit: every run is a same-suit run, so everything moves freely. Focus on turning over cards and emptying columns. Every one-suit deal on Puzzimo is proven winnable.
• Two suits: spades and hearts. Building in suit starts to matter a lot, and mixed runs are the main thing that slows you down. Every two-suit deal on Puzzimo is proven winnable too.
• Four suits: the classic hard game. Runs break constantly, so empty columns and careful dealing are everything. Four-suit deals are random, so now and then one can't be won.

Practise

Start with one suit until clearing a deal feels routine, then move to two. Undo draws on your shared undo balance (three free a day), so plan before you deal. On a phone, the Landscape button turns the table sideways with bigger cards.

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