How to Play Spiderette Solitaire

Spiderette is a version of Spider Solitaire with one deck and a tableau similar to the reverse stair case of Klondike Solitaire.

Objective

Your goal is to move all 52 cards to the 4 foundation piles by moving and organizing cards from the stock pile and tableau.

The Setup and Play Area

Foundation piles: Once you build a sequence of cards from Ace to King by suit in the tableau, these cards are then moved to the foundation. Successfully placing all 52 cards in the foundation wins the game.

Tableau piles: This area consists of seven columns, with the first column containing one card and each subsequent column containing one additional card. Each card starts face down, except the last card in each column, which is face up. In total, there are 28 cards in the tableau.

Stock pile: The rest of the cards, or 24 in total, go into the stock pile. You deal face-up cards one at a time to each of the 7 tableau columns. After you have dealt 21 cards, the remaining 3 cards are dealt to the first three tableau columns.

Available moves

• Cards from the stock pile are dealt directly into the tableau face-up. On the first 3 deals, 121 cards are placed on all 7 tableau columns, and on the last deal, 3 cards are placed on the first 3 columns.
• Tableau cards can be moved by sequencing them in descending order, regardless of suit. For example, a 7 of Spades can be placed on top of an 8 of Clubs, Hearts, or Diamonds.
  
• Similar to Spider, once a sequence from King to Ace is made of a given suit in the tableau, those cards are then moved to the foundation. For example, once you sequence Diamonds starting with the King of Diamonds and ending with the Ace of Diamonds, those cards are then moved to the foundation.
• When you move a face-up card, the card underneath it will then be turned face-up.
• You can move multiple cards at one time. To move a group of cards, they must be sequenced regardless of suit, and the top card of that group must be placed on top of a card one rank higher.
• You can place any card in an empty tableau column.
• You win when all cards have been moved to the foundation.

Strategy

• Make sure there are no more useful moves before drawing from the stock pile. Cards dealt from the stock pile can block cards, so make sure to make moves that advance the game before drawing from it.
• Try to identify higher-ranking cards. Because foundations are sequenced in the tableau, you want to find a high card like a King to start building from King to Ace by suit.
• Try to empty the tableau columns quickly. This allows you to move any card or sequence to these empty columns and free up cards.
• Move Kings to empty tableau columns. Kings cannot be placed on top of other cards. This means at some point, you'll need to move a King to an empty column to win.
• The first visible sequence may not always be the best one. Plan out your moves to remove as many cards as possible from the tableau.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some games similar to Spiderette?

Classic Solitaire, Easthaven and Scorpion are all similar games that combine rules from Spider and Klondike.

What are the odds of winning?

When looking at 205 random games played, 3 were won, making the win rate 1.56%.

What are other popular Solitaire games?

Here are some good games to try:

• Mahjong
• FreeCell Solitaire
• Crescent Solitaire
• Yukon Solitaire
• TriPeaks Solitaire
• Pyramid Solitaire
• Golf Solitaire