Klondike Solitaire

Klondike is the solitaire everyone just calls "solitaire", the one that came with every computer in the nineties. Played on instinct you win about one game in three. The gap between that figure and double it comes down to two or three decisions per game, and they all look harmless.

The layout and the play

Seven piles in a row: the first has one card, the second two, up to the seventh with seven. Only the last card of each pile is face up. The remaining cards form the stock, which you draw from.

You move in two directions:

On the piles, you build downwards in alternating colours: a red 9 goes under a black 10. You can move a group of cards that is already in sequence, and the space left by an emptied pile can only be filled by a king.
On the four foundations at the top, you build up by suit from ace to king. Getting all fifty-two cards there means you have won.

Every time you uncover the last face-down card of a pile, it flips: that is the real engine of the game.

On Pocket Games

You draw one card at a time and, once the stock runs out, you can turn it over twice more: three passes in all. Turning the stock over counts as a move too.

Moving cards. You can drag a card or a group, tap the card and then its destination, or double-tap it: a double tap sends it to a foundation if it fits there, otherwise to a column that accepts it.
Undo. Three undos per game, going back up to three moves. When they run out, in the app a video gives you three more, as often as you like; in the browser those three are all you get.
Hints. After 15 seconds without a move, the game highlights one; each later hint in the same game waits 5 seconds longer. It only suggests moves that make progress, never a pointless shuffle between two columns. Hints can be switched off in the options menu.
Auto-finish. When the stock and the waste are empty and every card is face up, the last cards climb to the foundations by themselves.
Lost games. If no useful move is left and the stock cannot be turned over again, “No moves left” appears and the game ends.
Saving. The game saves after every move, remaining undos included: when you come back there is a button to carry on.

The record is the fewest moves you have finished a game in, and it is the only figure synced to your account: games won are not counted.

The strategic rules that matter

Uncovering face-down cards comes before everything. Between two possible moves, always take the one that flips a face-down card, and among those, the one freeing the pile with the most hidden cards. Long piles are the ones that can lock the game: dismantle them early, while you still have options.

Do not send everything to the foundations. This is the most common and the most expensive mistake. A low card in the foundation never comes back, and a red 4 might be the landing spot a black 3 needs. Send a card up when it is no longer of use to anyone: in practice, once both lower cards of the opposite colour have gone up too.

An empty space is worth more than a move. But only if you have a king ready for it, or know one is coming. Emptying a pile without the king in hand means you have blocked a column for nothing.

Think before you draw. Drawing changes the available card and, on later passes, the order in which the deck’s cards come back. Exhausting the moves on the table before touching the stock keeps your options open longer.

Watch the third pass. With only three passes, the deck cards you cannot place have a limited number of chances. If you need a card and let it go by twice, the third time is the last.

When a game is lost

Not every deal is winnable: drawing one card at a time, roughly 20-25% of layouts have no solution whatever you do. The classic sign is two or three kings sitting low in the long piles with no way to reach them. Recognising it and starting again is a legitimate choice — and it is also why the record here is a move count rather than a number of wins.

Frequently asked questions

How do I undo a move?

With the button at the top, next to the move counter. You get three undos per game, covering the last three moves; once they are gone, in the app the same button offers a video that gives you three more, while in the browser there are no more. Undone moves come off the counter too, so they do not count against your record.

Can I turn the hints off?

Yes, from the game’s options menu, and the choice sticks for later games. With hints on, the first one comes after 15 seconds without a move, and each one after that takes 5 seconds longer.

Can I stop a game and finish it later?

Yes. The game in progress is saved after every move, and when you reopen Solitaire you pick it up where you left off. If you start a new game instead, you are asked to confirm first.

Does my record survive a change of phone?

Yes, if you sign in with your Google account: the fewest-moves record is synced, and across two devices the better one wins. The number of games won is not recorded.

Why not send cards to the foundations straight away?

Because the foundation is one-way. A 2 sent up too early leaves another suit’s ace without its landing spot, and the game locks ten moves later, once you can no longer connect the two things.

More games to try

See the full list of games, or open Pocket Games in your browser: they are free and you don’t need an account.