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Klondike Solitaire

Klondike Solitaire is one of the most popular single-player card games around, but mastering it takes time and patience. In fact, Solitaire is often referred to as ‘Patience’. The aim of the game is simple… you are tasked with moving cards from the playing area, known as the tableau (which is French for ‘table’) to four foundation piles. These foundation piles need to be arranged in ascending order for each of the four suits - Diamonds, Aces, Spades and Hearts. Once you have a completed foundation pile, it’s called a ‘family’. To win, you’ll need four families. You can play Solitaire FRVR right here.

If you’re just getting started in Solitaire, make sure to read our detailed how to play Solitaire, which goes through the basic rules and terminology. Now, let’s go through some simple, winning strategies to help you beat Klondike Solitaire.

How to win at Klondike Solitaire - 15 best tips

1. Scan the Tableau Scan and plan your moves carefully

Before jumping in, get a feel of the tableau by scanning what’s in front of you. Analyze the entire tableau and begin thinking about your opening strategy.

  • What you’re looking for:
    • Immediate Aces and Twos: Easy wins that can immediately moved to the foundation piles
    • Potential Sequences: Look at the numbers - are there any easy sequences that can be built in the tableau?
    • Columns with Most Facedown Cards: As we come on to below, these will be to the right of the tableau
      • Blocked Kings: If these are trapped deep in columns, make a note as they’ll need to be freed and moved to empty columns
  • Why It Works: By taking 30 seconds or so to scan the playing area, it stops you from being impulsive and making a move that could make things harder from the off. In Klondike Solitaire there is obviously room for opportunism, however the ability to ‘zoom out’ and evaluate is priceless, especially if you’re tackling the harder Draw 3 variant.

2. Prioritize Uncovering Facedown Cards

First thing’s first. You must prioritize uncovering facedown cards. This means that when you’re looking at the columns, aim to focus on a move that frees up a face-down card. A smart move is to focus on the latter columns, which have more hidden cards and potentially greater impact.

  • Common Mistake to Avoid: Remember, Solitaire is essentially information gathering. Avoid the temptation to build long sequences and instead focus on revealing face-down cards.

3. Empty Columns Strategically

An empty tableau column gives you unparalleled flexibility. The golden rule, however, is you must never empty a column unless a King is readily available - as they are the only cards that can occupy an empty space in the tableau.

  • Why It’s Critical: An empty column allows you to:
    • Unblock Deep Cards: Move an entire sequence from another column into the empty space to access cards hidden beneath.
    • Consolidate Sequences: Rearrange cards to create longer, more manageable sequences.
    • Recycle Stockpile Kings: If a King appears in your stockpile and no other Kings are available, an empty column is its only destination.
  • Advanced Tip: If you have multiple Kings, try to empty a column that’ll allow you to uncover the most facedown cards when you move a sequence into it.

4. Clear the clutter and move Aces and Twos to the Foundation (Mostly)

This may be obvious but once you’ve done your initial scan, and have started playing, move low cards - Aces and Twos to the foundation piles , as soon as they become available.

  • Immediate Benefits:
    • Frees Up Space: Clears cards from the tableau and frees up hidden cards
    • Moves Towards Win: Gets you off the mark quickly and provides foundation to build on
  • The Exception (See Strategy 9): Sometimes a specific Ace or Two could be crucial for building a temporary sequence in the tableau to unblock a more vital card. Keep scanning the area and if you see this opportunity arise, take it.

5. Work from Right to Left on the Tableau: Maximizing Early Reveals

Prioritize the rightmost columns when looking to uncover hidden cards. Why? The rightmost columns start with the most facedown cards. This means that by clearing these you can reveal the mximum number of hidden cards early - giving you more information and options to plan your next moves.

6. Utilize the Stockpile Judiciously

Don’t just dive into the stockpile by default, instead use it tactically and sparingly. The general rule is exhaust all possible moves within the tableau before drawing from the stockpile. This is because each draw from the stockpile introduces new cards but also consumes a “turn” and changes the game state.

  • When to Draw:
    • When no further moves are possible in the tableau.
    • When you need a specific card (e.g., a King for an empty column, or a card to complete a tableau sequence) and hope it’s in the stockpile.
  • Drawing Strategy: Try to memorize the sequence of cards you draw from the stockpile (especially in games with three-card draws). This allows you to anticipate when a useful card might reappear.
  • Avoid Excessive Flipping: Don’t just flip through all of the cards quickly - memorize and evaluate against the columns.

7. Build Evenly on Foundation Piles (Initially): Maintain Flexibility

Try not to over-commit to one suit too early in the game. For example, if you’re creating a foundation based on Diamonds, but then that card could be used to unblock other cards in the tableau later in the game, you’ll be stuck as the required card is out of play.

  • Strategic Approach: Instead build your foundation piles somewhat evenly - with the aim being each one having five or six cards on them after some time playing, rather than just one pile with more cards. Try to keep higher ranking cards such as 7s and 9s on the tableau as these can come in handy to unblock piles.

8. Think Multiple Moves Ahead, like Chess

We touched on this earlier, but your actions in Solitaire create a ripple effect so you want to think , think at least two to three steps ahead

  • Ask Yourself:
    • “If I decide to move this card, what card will it uncover?”
    • “Will this move block any future possibilities and potentially come back to hurt me later on?”
    • “What sort of card is this? If it’s a useful mid-high number card then do I need to keep it in play for longer”
  • Practice Visualization: Take time to visualize the effect of the move. The easiest way of doing this is to think in chain-reaction terms. So, conduct the move in your head then assess how this changes the playing area. With more experience you’ll be able to hypthesise more effectively.

9. Prioritize Moves that Unblock Higher-Value Cards: Breaking the Chains

Often a lower-ranked card is sitting on top of a more useful card such as Queen, Jack or King, that can be used to complete a sequence. Identify Blockers: by scanning the tableau for situations where a single card is preventing access to this high-value card.

  • Strategic Focus: If you’re presented with this, always opt for the move that lets you unblock these higher-value cards.

10. Don’t restart as hope usually isn’t always lost

Yes, we have a restart option on Solitaire FRVR, but really treat this as a last resort. Normally when something is ‘hopeless’ there are ways to solve for it. It’s also during these moments that you learn the most. So if you find yourself stuff, move into evaluation and visualization to see if you can claw your way out of it.

11. Create “Suited Groupings” Within Tableau Columns

While you’re able to build up sequences of alternative suits on the tableau, we would always recommend keeping cards of the same suit together within those alternating color sequences.

  • Why It Helps: Having cards ‘mostly’ set up in the tableau allows you to quickly and efficiently transfer over large blocks to the foundation pile.

12. Recover Cards from the Foundation Piles - but only in emergency

Remember, as a last-resort strategy you can move cards from the foundation pile to unblock a critical move in the tableau. The downside is that it’ll impact and delay your foundation building, so weigh up the risks versus the reward.

  • When to Consider It:
    • You are completely stuck with no other moves in the tableau or stockpile and don’t want to restart
    • The card in the foundation is blocking a King or a sequence that would immediately reveal multiple facedown cards or open up an empty column.

13. Maintain a Balanced Tableau Spread: Avoid Lopsided Builds

Try not to overly focus on building up one or two tableau columns and neglecting other. Aim for a relatively balanced distribution of cards across your tableau. This gives you more flexibility, more potential moves, and a higher chance of being able to shift cards around as needed.

  • Why It’s a Problem: You risk inadvertently trapping crucial cards in other, neglected columns - limiting your moves later in the game.

14. The Quick Scan Reflex

Get into the habit of quick scanning the tableau to look for any easy matches before making any move. For example, If you see a Black 9, immediately look for a Red 8. If you see a Red Queen, look for a Black Jack.

15. The Power of Patience

Ultimately, Solitaire is called ‘Patience’ for a reason. It takes time, forward-thinking and experience. Don’t expect to sail through Draw 1 Klondike Solitaire from the start - give yourself time and use some of the strategies we’ve captured here for you. If there’s one tip you take away from this, it’s to not rush in, evaluate and plan your moves. And remember, when it appears hope is all but lost, it usually isn’t. Good luck.

We’ve also got a number of other accessible card games on FRVR. Whyy not check out Mahjong FRVR or try Spider FRVR.