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After the game has loaded click on the green and white button in the bottom center of the game's welcome screen to start playing. This will bring up the game mode select, where you can choose:
After you choose your suit count our Spider Solitaire game automatically deals your cards to the Tableau. If you do not like a deal, or you are stuck on a game, you can click the new deal button near the top center of the screen. This game allows you to shuffle through the reserve pile an unlimited number of times.
Your current score and number of moves is shown at the top left of the screen. This game has a control menu on the top right. Replay hand, help, turn sound on or off and re-start game.
The above games allow you to submit your high score.
The playing field is organized with ten columns on the Tableau. Fifty four cards are dealt, with 4 columns having 6 cards each and 6 columns having 5 cards each.
The remaining 50 cards are in the Reserve, which is dealt atop the columns in the Tableau across 5 deals.
Playing in four suits mode is significantly harder than playing in one suit mode. Practice in one suit mode and work your way up. Four suit Spider Solitaire is arguably the hardest Solitaire version for a player to master.
If you've played traditional Classic Solitaire, and looking for more of a challenge, you might want to take a look at some of the variations. One difficult and challenging variation, Spider Solitaire, is a very popular two-deck version of the game.
In this article, we'll look at:
Solitaire, in its original form, emerged in the 1700s in northern Europe.
The game didn't make its way across the Atlantic to the USA until 1870 where it became known as “Klondike Solitaire”, then just “Solitaire”.
Spider Solitaire originated in 1949. It's popularity exploded when it came preinstalled with Microsoft XP in 2001.
Assemble thirteen cards of a suit, in descending sequence from King to Ace.
Once a full suit of thirteen cards is assembled, it is discarded.
The goal of the game is to stack cards into sequences. These sequences are based on suits and rank. For example, the cards will be stacked K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A with no mixed suits.
You move cards around the gamespace following a set of rules. It's possible to follow all the rules and still get blocked if you lack strategy and some luck. Blocking yourself in means you lose the game.
Ten piles of five cards each are dealt, then an additional four on the first four columns. All top cards are then turned face up.
The top card in a pile can be moved. It can be moved onto another card if it is in sequence. You can also move a sequence of cards all at once - provided they are suited.
If moving a sequence of cards, they may be placed either in a space or on a card of the next-higher rank to the bottom card of the unit. You must maintain suits. A King can only be moved onto a space.
In the online game, if you try to make an illegal move, the computer won't allow you to place the card.
In Classic Solitaire, all four suits are used. In Spider Solitaire, the number of suits can vary depending on your level. One suit is beginner, two is intermediate and three or four is expert level.
The sequence of cards. In Spider Solitaire, cards must be of the same suit in order to place them in sequential order if you want to be able to move that run of cards. You can stack different suits, but then you won't be able to move them as a group.
In Classic Solitaire, the sequenced cards must be of alternating red and black suits.
Cards from the Reserve. In Classic Solitaire, players deal a single card from the pile. In Spider Solitaire, you deal a single card to each column in the Table or Tableau.
Difficulty. Spider Solitaire is arguably the most difficult of all Solitaire games. It has been estimated that the most expert players can only win around 50% of time as many games are simply impossible to win.
The game typically uses eight foundation piles that must be filled to win the game. This layout of eight piles resembles the eight legs of a spider. However, some versions of Spider Solitaire use more than eight piles.
The game requires two decks. Each deck contains 52 cards. These are dealt to the Tableau in ten piles, face down except for the top cards. The Tableau, also known as the Table, consists of ten stacks with six cards in the first four stacks, with the sixth card face up, and five cards in the remaining six stacks, with the fifth card face up.
The online version will set up the game-space for you. The Spider Solitaire game space consists of these elements:
The Table is formed by ten piles of cards. The piles are built from left to right. After the deck has been shuffled, five cards are dealt to each column, except the first four columns, which receive six cards. The top cards are turned over.
The Foundations are the piles onto which you arrange the Table stacks. In this online version of the game, once you complete a stack, they are removed from play.
The Reserve is the pile of remaining cards after all cards are dealt onto the Table. These cards can be drawn and brought into play.
The rules of Spider Solitaire are:
Time.
The faster you complete the game, the better your “score”. This isn't important for the single player game as your aim is simply to clear the Table, however if you're playing against others in an online tournament, the fastest time is how the winner is decided.
In computer tournaments, each player is typically given decks in the same shuffled order so that each player must play the game from the same starting position.
Deal with your face down cards first. Face down cards limit your options. If you have the option of freeing a face down card or playing a card from the Draw pile, play the card on the Table first.
Give yourself options by exposing hidden cards, when possible.
Uncovering hidden cards leads to a new set of possible moves.
If you don't have a King, do not empty a pile. You won't be able to create a new one unless you have a King.
Use empty piles as a temporary place to store cards while rearranging sequences into a fully packed build. Move cards to empty spaces to turn over more cards.
Begin building with the cards of the highest rank. Starting from higher cards allows you to get more cards into the stack below it. However, if you start with a low card, the build will be soon finished with an Ace.
Aim to maintain suits. If you mix them up, you will limit your possibilities.
When playing four suits, half of all Spider Solitaire games are winnable. You may need to restart often in order to complete a game.
Try to avoid dealing more cards until you absolutely must do so. Each time you deal more cards, it will block a number of moves if any were available. If you have any empty columns, use them before dealing more cards as this will fill that column with a random card from the deck.
You lose the game. Always try to keep as many options open as you can. Maintaining options is the key to winning Spider Solitaire.
Spider Solitaire with four suits uses two standard 52 decks of playing cards. If you play with two suits you would then use half of four standard decks. If you play with one suit you would use a quarter of eight decks.
The Ace is low in Spider Solitaire. The King is high.
Winning chances in a normal game with good play are considered to be about one in three games. Expert players can win up to 50% of the time.
Playing with fewer suits increases your chances of winning dramatically. You can win around 98% to 99% two-suit games and almost 100% of single-suit games.
There are many different names and versions of Spider Solitaire. Other names and versions include:
We offer nearly a dozen different versions of Spider Solitaire you can play online. In addition, within our broader Solitaire collection we have some cross over games that combine aspects of Spider with aspects of other Solitaire games.
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