How Is Solitaire Scored? Tips for Maximizing Your Points

Playing Solitaire is more than just winning. You also want to get the best score you can to earn a competitive position on the leaderboard. Although you win the game by sorting all the cards into their foundation piles in ascending order by suit, getting a great score means maximizing those moves in the least amount of time.

The first step to earning a top score is understanding how to play Solitaire. To get cards to their foundation piles, you arrange them in the tableau into descending sequences that alternate in color. You can move single cards or entire sequences onto other cards in the tableau, flipping facedown cards as they’re uncovered. Play any available cards onto sequences or foundation piles, and use the top card from the discard pile when you get stuck.

With all the moves you make to win the game, you’re probably wondering how that translates into scoring. How scoring works largely depends on what Solitaire version you’re

These common Solitaire scoring guidelines will help you maximize your points and level up your game. Once you understand how Solitaire is scored, you can work your way up the leaderboard when playing Klondike Turn 1, Las Vegas Solitaire, and other Solitaire card games.

Solitaire Scoring on Solitaired

Klondike Solitaire and Las Vegas Solitaire use different scoring models, so understanding how each one works helps inform your strategy and maximize your score in each version. When playing Klondike, use fewer moves in less time for your best score, but for Las Vegas Solitaire, time isn’t a factor. So focus on getting as many cards to the foundation as possible.

Scoring for Klondike Solitaire

When it comes to scoring, you often aim for a high score, but in Klondike on Solitaired, the goal is to achieve the lowest score possible. To get the best score, no matter if you’re playing Solitaire Turn 1 or Solitaire Turn 3, focus on your moves and time to score the lowest number of points.

How Klondike Solitaire is scored on Solitaired involves a simple formula based on the number of moves you make and the time it takes to do it:

Score = Moves + Time (in seconds)

Each move counts as one point, whether you move a card to its foundation pile or move it from the waste pile, and your time is calculated in seconds. So if you win a game in 100 moves and 2 minutes, you score 220 points.

100 + 120 seconds = 220

Remember, fewer moves in less time gives you the best score, so rely on a strategy that focuses on playing efficiently. Since the goal is getting all the cards to the foundation piles, evaluate which actions will get them there in the fewest moves, but think fast because the clock is ticking.

Scoring for Las Vegas Solitaire

The Las Vegas Solitaire scoring model assigns coins instead of points, and your goal is to get the highest number of coins possible, regardless of whether you win the game. Even though they are played slightly differently—Las Vegas Solitaire allows just one pass through stockpile, and Las Vegas Solitaire Turn 3 gives you three passes—both versions use the same scoring model, which differs from how Klondike Solitaire is scored.

On Solitaired, you get a daily deposit of 200 virtual coins, which is not factored into your score. You must use 52 coins to play a game—that means that at the start of the game, you’re already in the negative (negative 52 coins). Then you get 5 coins for each card you move to the foundation pile, which means you need to move 11 cards to foundation piles just to get out of the hole.

The more cards you move to foundation piles, the more coins you will score. Once a game ends, whether you win or not, your coins—negative or positive—become your score for that game. So a game in which you moved 15 cards to foundation piles would be scored like this:

–52 coins + (15 x 5 coins) = 23 coins

Las Vegas Solitaire scoring has you focusing solely on getting cards to the foundation piles. Unlike Klondike Solitaire, the amount of time you take doesn’t penalize you in any way, and you can arrange and rearrange cards as often as you need to. So when strategizing, you can take your time to calculate what moves help you get the most cards to foundation piles.

Other Solitaire Scoring Methods

How Solitaire is scored depends on what version you’re playing or the site or app you’re playing on. Many games calculate the Solitaire score based on a combination of points for card movements and time, and the goal is to get the highest score. You can lose or gain points when you play Klondike Solitaire, depending on what move you make.

These Solitaire scoring rules are commonly used for Microsoft Klondike Solitaire on Windows:

• Stock to tableau: 5 points
• Tableau or stock to foundation: 10 points
• Turn over tableau card: 5 points
• Foundation back to tableau: –15 points

Some apps and sites use time as a penalty that subtracts points, such as docking you 1 point for every 10 seconds you take, or they may use a timed game, adding bonus points to your score if you win within a certain timeframe. So your strategy is efficiency, relying on quick thinking to make the most high-value moves.

Las Vegas Solitaire typically scores just like it does on Solitaired. The only difference might be how many coins you get on a daily basis.

Tips for Getting a Best Score

What qualifies as a good Solitaire score depends entirely on where you play. Since sites and apps all have different scoring models and rules, you won’t find just one best score worldwide. The best score can be found on the leaderboard on the game site where you play.

Of course, you can simply play against yourself and try beating your previous score, but if you’re competitive, you may want to inch your way up the leaderboard. So use these tips and techniques to achieve the best score you can get:

• Take a good look at the tableau before you start playing. If you’re playing a game that is timed, time typically doesn’t start until you move a card, so carefully survey the tableau before you click and move anything. Think ahead of how moves will turn out and plan which ones will help you move the fastest and get the most cards to the foundation piles.
• Drag and drop cards yourself. On some sites, clicking the card automatically puts it into position, but sometimes, a card can be moved to multiple positions. Using the auto-click function means a card may end up where you don’t want it, and you not only lose time in rearranging, but you could also lose points. If a card pops up in the waste pile that is better used on the tableau but can also be placed in the foundation pile, auto-click will likely send it to the foundation. Not only do you have to rearrange it, but on some sites you even get penalized for moving a card back to the tableau from a foundation pile.
• Use the stockpile efficiently. In some games, you might get a penalty for cycling through the stockpile, but regardless of whether you’re penalized in points or not, running through the stockpile too often wastes precious time, and time does count against you. Instead, keep track of cards that you know are hidden and ones that you reveal from the stockpile. This can help you anticipate where cards may be hidden and help make your use of the stockpile more efficient.
• Focus on the tableau. Most of your points are scored when moving cards to the foundation piles, so you may be eager to move cards to their foundation piles when you really need them to help arrange cards on the tableau. You won’t want to move a red six to its foundation pile if playing it on black seven in a sequence helps move a black five and reveal a hidden card in the column. Remember that using cards within the tableau gets more cards into play that help you win the game.
• Practice. The more you play Solitaire, the more you can hone your skills to get a better score. As you play through the game, you’ll start to see patterns that indicate where your trouble spots are, and then you can focus on improving those parts of your gameplay and strategy.

Solitaire Variations to Build Your Skills

Playing Solitaire can be good practice, but playing different types of Solitaire can give you a way to hone in on techniques that need more polish. If you know what areas of the game make you hit a wall with your progress, fine-tune your trouble spots and build skills for a better score by targeting the areas that need more practice.

Use these specific variations if you need to practice:

• FreeCell to practice building sequences: Because it’s an easier version, FreeCell can help you practice sorting cards into sequences without the same pressures of Classic Solitaire. The four free cells give you some leeway to practice arranging sequences in a tableau by giving you extra spaces to use as temporary placeholders. This helps you identify what you might be doing in Solitaire that stops your progress in the tableau.
• Solitaire Turn 1 to practice choosing the best moves: The best way to practice getting a higher score is to play an easier version of the game. If you’re playing Solitaire or Klondike Turn 3 and consistently scoring the same, then go back to Solitaire Turn 1. You can draw one card from the stockpile in Solitaire Turn 1 but have to draw three cards at a time in Solitaire Turn 3. So this easier version allows you access to every card in the stockpile. Playing an easier version can help you determine what part of the game is creating a snag.
• Canfield Solitaire to practice being more disciplined with your moves: If you find yourself putting cards into foundations too early or haphazardly moving sequences in the tableau, try Canfield Solitaire. Although it’s a more difficult version, it forces you to focus on thinking ahead so that you’re more methodical and thoughtful with your moves.
• Yukon Solitaire to practice building within the tableau: It seems counterintuitive to build long sequences in the tableau since putting cards into foundation piles is how you win the game. But building in the tableau is what helps uncover hidden cards in columns and the stockpile. If you can’t get a handle on building in the tableau, try Yukon Solitaire. This difficult version that has no stockpile requires you to really think through making sequences on the tableau so you don’t play too quickly onto foundation piles. Without a stockpile, you’re forced to rearrange methodically and efficiently in the tableau.

Play for Free and Score High in Solitaire Today

Solitaired offers a stress-free way to play with a straightforward scoring system. So if you want to practice classic Solitaire or Solitaire Turn 3 or try different Solitaire games like FreeCell or Golf Solitaire to target specific skills, check out all of our free games and work toward getting your name to the top of the leaderboard.