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Game Introduction

Spider Solitaire is a challenging and popular variant of the classic solitaire card game, played with two standard decks of cards (104 cards total). The main goal is to clear the entire playing area by assembling eight complete same-suit sequences of cards, ordered from King down to Ace. Once a full sequence is built, it is removed from the game.

Gameplay Guide

• Objective: Build eight descending sequences of the same suit (King, Queen, Jack, …, Ace).
• Building on the Tableau: You can place a card on top of another card if it is one rank lower (e.g., a 7 on an 8). While you can stack cards of different suits, you can only move a group of cards together if they are all of the same suit.
• Empty Columns: An empty column can be filled with any available card or a sequence of cards.
• Stock Pile: When you have no more available moves on the tableau, you can deal a new row of 10 cards from the stock pile. You can only do this when there are no empty columns.

Controls Guide

• Mouse/Touch: Click and drag cards to move them between columns. Most versions also support a single click to automatically move a card to a valid position if one exists.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What do the different difficulty levels mean?

The difficulty is determined by the number of suits used:

• 1-Suit (Beginner): All 104 cards are of a single suit, making it much easier to form sequences.
• 2-Suit (Intermediate): Uses two suits, requiring you to manage building separate sequences.
• 4-Suit (Advanced): The most challenging version, using all four suits.

Why is it called Spider Solitaire?

The name comes from the eight sequences you need to build, corresponding to a spider’s eight legs.

What is the main strategy?

Try to empty columns as quickly as possible to create free space for re-ordering cards. It’s also crucial to uncover face-down cards to bring more options into play. Whenever possible, try to build sequences of the same suit.