Start with the layout
How to play Klondike Solitaire
Learn the goal, the four areas of the table, and the moves that open a deal.
Move every card to the foundations
Klondike is won by moving all 52 cards to four foundation piles. Each foundation holds one suit and builds upward from ace through king.
Most of the work happens in the seven tableau columns. Revealing their face-down cards creates the choices you need to finish the deal.
Know the four areas
The tableau is the row of seven columns. The stock holds undealt cards, the waste shows cards turned from the stock, and the four foundations collect completed suits.
- Tableau: build downward in alternating colors.
- Stock and waste: reveal new cards to play.
- Foundations: build each suit from ace to king.
Make moves that reveal information
Move a face-up card or a correctly ordered run onto the next-lower card of the opposite color. When a tableau column exposes a face-down card, turn it face up.
Only a king, or a run beginning with a king, may enter an empty tableau column. If no tableau move helps, draw from the stock.