Solitaire: classic Klondike card game, free online
Play Klondike Solitaire, the classic patience card game, free in your browser. Choose Draw 1 or Draw 3, drag cards or simply tap them, and use unlimited undo, hints and one-tap auto-complete. Best of all, every Draw 1 deal can be won: each one has been checked in advance by our Klondike solver, so you never waste time on a hopeless shuffle. There is a daily deal for everyone, you can challenge a friend to beat your time on the same cards, and you get three table colours, standard scoring and personal statistics. It works on phones, tablets and computers, with no download.
How to play Solitaire
- Move all 52 cards onto the four foundation piles at the top, one pile per suit, building up from Ace to King.
- On the seven table columns, place cards in descending order with alternating colours, for example a red 6 on a black 7.
- Turn over face-down cards by moving the cards that cover them. Only a King, or a run starting with a King, can go into an empty column.
- When you run out of moves, tap the stock in the top-left corner to turn new cards onto the waste pile. Play the top waste card when you can.
- Drag cards, or tap a card to send it to the best spot automatically. When every card is face up, tap Auto to finish.
The layout
- Tableau: seven columns in the middle. Column one starts with one card, column seven with seven; only the bottom card of each column starts face up. Build down here in alternating colours.
- Foundations: four piles at the top right. Each one holds a single suit, built up from Ace to King. Fill all four to win.
- Stock: the face-down pile at the top left with the remaining 24 cards. Tap it to turn cards onto the waste.
- Waste: the face-up pile next to the stock. Only its top card can be played. When the stock is empty, tap it again to turn the waste back over.
Controls
- Drag and drop: press on a face-up card and drag it, together with any cards on top of it, to a new place. If the move is not allowed, the cards slide back.
- Tap to move: tap a card and it jumps to the best legal spot, a foundation first, then another column. You can turn this off in Settings.
- Keyboard: Space or D draws from the stock, Z undoes, H shows a hint, A auto-completes and N opens a new game.
- Auto-complete: once the stock is empty and every card is face up, the Auto button appears and sends all cards home.
Every Draw 1 deal is winnable
The biggest frustration in Klondike is playing for ten minutes and then discovering that the deal could never be won. About one shuffle in five is like that. To avoid it, we ran thousands of shuffles through our own Klondike solver ahead of time and kept only the deals it could finish. With Winnable deals only switched on (the default), every Draw 1 game, and every daily deal, is one of 2,000 verified deals. If you get stuck, the game reminds you that a solution exists: undo a few moves and look for another path. You can switch the option off in Settings for completely random deals, and Draw 3 games are always random.
Challenge a friend
After a win, tap Challenge a friend, type your name and send the link. Your friend gets exactly the same shuffle, with your time shown at the top as the target to beat, and sees the result when they finish. The deal travels inside the link, so no account is needed.
Scoring
Util.Ninja Solitaire uses standard Klondike scoring:
| Move | Points |
|---|---|
| Card to a foundation | +10 |
| Waste card to the table | +5 |
| Turning over a face-down table card | +5 |
| Foundation card back to the table | −15 |
| Recycling the stock (Draw 1) | −100 |
| Recycling the stock after the third pass (Draw 3) | −20 |
| Winning bonus, for games longer than 30 seconds | 700,000 ÷ seconds |
Undo never costs points, and the score cannot go below zero. Your best time and top score are saved separately for Draw 1, Draw 3 and the daily deal.
Strategy: how to win more games
- Uncover the big columns first. The right-hand columns hide the most face-down cards. Freeing them early gives you the most options later.
- Prefer table moves to stock draws. Before you turn the stock, check every column for a move that turns over a hidden card.
- Do not empty a column without a King ready. An empty column is only useful for a King. If no King is waiting, keep the column occupied.
- Choose your King carefully. When two Kings could fill an empty column, pick the one whose colour fits the Queens and Jacks you can see.
- Do not rush cards to the foundations. Low cards (Aces and 2s) should go up at once, but keep middle cards like 5s and 6s on the table if you may need them to hold other cards.
- Keep colours balanced. Try not to build long runs that only accept one colour, so both red and black cards have somewhere to go.
- In Draw 3, think about the order. Playing one waste card shifts which cards come up on the next pass. Sometimes it is better not to play a card so a buried one becomes reachable.
- Use undo to explore. If you are not sure which of two moves is better, try one and undo if it leads nowhere.
A short history of Solitaire
Patience games appeared in Northern Europe in the late 18th century, and the first collections of rules were printed in the 1800s. Klondike, named after the Canadian gold rush of 1896–1899, became the best-known version in North America in the early 20th century. In 1990 Microsoft added it to Windows 3.0 as Solitaire, partly to teach people how to use a mouse with drag and drop. It went on to become one of the most played computer games of all time, and in 2019 it was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. This version by Util.Ninja is written from scratch with its own card designs and themes.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Solitaire free?
Yes. Util.Ninja Solitaire is completely free, with no sign-up and no download. It runs in your browser on phones, tablets and computers, and your game is saved automatically.
What is the difference between Draw 1 and Draw 3?
In Draw 1 you turn one card at a time from the stock, so every card is easy to reach and you win more often. In Draw 3 you turn three cards at once but can only play the top one, which makes the game harder and more strategic.
Is every game of Solitaire winnable?
Not in general: about one random Klondike shuffle in five cannot be won even with perfect play. Here, every Draw 1 deal is taken from a set of 2,000 deals our solver has verified as winnable, so a solution always exists. You can turn this off in Settings for fully random deals. Draw 3 deals are random.
How do I challenge a friend?
Win a game, tap Challenge a friend, enter your name and share the link. Your friend plays exactly the same deal with your time to beat. No account is needed.
How is the score calculated?
You get 10 points for each card placed on a foundation, 5 for moving a card from the waste to the table and 5 for turning over a face-down card. Moving a card back down from a foundation costs 15 points and recycling the stock in Draw 1 costs 100. When you win, a time bonus is added: the faster you finish, the bigger it is.
How do I move several cards at once?
Drag the highest face-up card you want to move and the cards on top of it come along, as long as they form a run of alternating colours going down. You can also tap that card to move the whole run to the best place.
What is the daily deal?
The daily deal is a Draw 1 game with the same shuffle for every player on the same day, so you can compare your time and moves with friends.
Can I undo moves?
Yes, as many as you like. Undo takes back draws from the stock, moves and recycles, and it never costs points.
Why is it called Klondike?
The name is usually linked to the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada in the late 1890s, where the game was said to be popular with prospectors. It became world famous when Microsoft included it in Windows 3.0 in 1990.