Klondike Solitaire: a complete guide to the game itself
Klondike is the card game most New Zealanders mean when they say "patience" or "solitaire": seven columns of cards, a pile to draw from, and four piles to build from Ace to King. This page is the reference guide to Klondike itself: where the name comes from, every part of the table and what it is called, the full rules, how to play your very first game move by move, and a glossary you can come back to.
If you want to know how often Klondike can be won, and what our computer tests found, that lives on our Klondike odds page. Here we keep the numbers to a minimum and concentrate on the game.
Where the name comes from
The game takes its name from the Klondike region of the Yukon in north-western Canada, the scene of the gold rush of the late 1890s. According to Wikipedia's article on Klondike solitaire, the name is usually linked to the prospectors of that rush, although the game's exact origins are not known for certain. In Britain and much of the Commonwealth the same game has long simply been called "patience", which is why many Kiwi players still use that word.
Klondike became a household game when Microsoft shipped a version with Windows 3.0 in 1990, as the same Wikipedia article records. For a generation of office workers it was the first computer card game they ever played, and it is still the version most people picture today.
The table, piece by piece
A game of Klondike uses one standard 52-card pack and four areas on the table. Learning their names makes every guide, hint and rule easier to follow.
| Area | What it holds at the start | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Tableau | Seven columns of 1 to 7 cards (28 cards). Each column shows only its top card. | The main playing area, where you build descending runs and uncover hidden cards. |
| Foundations | Four empty spaces. | Where you build each suit up from Ace to King. Filling all four wins the game. |
| Stock | The remaining 24 cards, face down. | Your reserve. Click it to turn cards over onto the waste. |
| Waste | Empty. | Cards turned from the stock land here. The top waste card is always available to play. |
The full rules
Building on the tableau
- You may place a card on a tableau card that is one rank higher and the opposite colour. A black 6 goes on a red 7; a red Queen goes on a black King.
- You may move a face-up run of correctly built cards as one unit, as long as the bottom card of the run fits where it lands.
- When you move the last face-up card off a column, the face-down card beneath it turns over and joins the game.
- An empty column may only be filled by a King, or by a run that starts with a King.
Building on the foundations
- Each foundation starts with an Ace and grows by suit: Ace, 2, 3 and so on up to King.
- Cards may go up to a foundation from the tableau or from the top of the waste.
- On this site a card can also come back down from a foundation to the tableau if you need it, which occasionally rescues a stuck game.
The stock and the waste
- On this page the stock turns one card at a time onto the waste. The switch on the game takes you to Klondike Turn 3, where it turns three.
- When the stock runs out, the waste turns back over to become a new stock. There is no limit on how many times you may go through it.
Winning and losing
The game is won the moment the last of the 52 cards reaches a foundation. There is no fixed way to lose: a game is over when no useful move remains, and you are free to deal again or use Undo to try another line.
Your first game, move by move
Here is a gentle routine for a first game. It works for almost every deal and teaches the habits good players use without thinking.
- Scan the seven face-up cards. Play any Ace straight to a foundation, and any 2 that can follow it.
- Look for tableau moves that turn a card over. A move that uncovers a face-down card is almost always worth more than one that does not. Start with the tallest columns on the right, where most cards are hidden.
- Only then turn the stock. Play the waste card if it fits somewhere useful, then check the tableau again, because the new card may open a fresh move.
- Keep going round. Tableau first, stock second. Each lap of the stock shows you where the cards you need are hiding.
- Plan for your first empty column. Before you clear one, check that a King is ready to go into it, ideally one with cards you want to move sitting on it.
- Hold back on the foundations. Send low cards up freely, but think twice before sending up a middle card such as a red 6 if a black 5 may still need a home.
- When nothing works, use Undo. Step back a few moves and try the other choice. Undo is unlimited here, and it is the fastest way to learn.
- Finish with Auto Play. Once every card is face up and the game is clearly won, Auto Play sends the rest home for you.
How much luck is in a deal?
Not every Klondike deal can be won, and it helps to know that before your first loss. Our figures, and the method behind them, are on the Klondike odds page. The short version: a simple computer player that never undoes a move and never peeks won 42.3% of 10,000 deals at Turn 1 (95% range 41.3–43.3%). Published research by Blake and Gent (2026) found that 90.48% of Turn 1 deals can be won by a player who could see every card. The gap between those two numbers is where skill, patience and Undo live.
Klondike glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tableau | The seven columns across the middle, where most of the play happens. |
| Foundation | One of the four piles built by suit from Ace to King. |
| Stock | The face-down pile you draw from. |
| Waste | The face-up pile that stock cards are turned onto. |
| Run (or build) | A descending stack in alternating colours, for example black 9, red 8, black 7. |
| Turn 1 / Turn 3 | How many cards the stock turns over at once. Also called Draw 1 and Draw 3. |
| Pass | One trip through the whole stock. |
| Redeal | Turning the waste back over to make a new stock. Unlimited on this site. |
| Space | An empty tableau column. Only a King may fill it in Klondike. |
| Blocked | A position with no useful move left. |
| Thoughtful solitaire | A research term for Klondike played with every card visible. It shows the most any player could possibly win. |
Playing Klondike here
The game on this page is free and runs in any modern browser on a computer, tablet or phone. There is nothing to download or install, and no sign-up, account or email address is needed.
- Large, clear cards and a zoom control, which help on a small phone screen or on tired eyes after a long day.
- Hint, unlimited Undo and Restart, so you can learn from every deal.
- Auto Play to finish a game that is already won.
- Move cards by dragging them, or by tapping the card and then where it should go.
- Wins, time and moves tracked for the current game.
- Optional sound, a fullscreen view and several table colours.
How we put this page together, step by step
This page is a rules guide rather than a study, but the free-solitaire.nz team checked every statement about how the game behaves on this site. Here is how, in September 2026.
- We read the game's own code. This page runs the game named
klondike-1, loaded from the same script as our home page. The rules above (alternating colours, runs move as a unit, Kings only in empty columns, one card per turn, unlimited redeals) come straight from that code. - We confirmed it is the same game as the home page. We compared this page with / and found the same game name, the same script and the same rules. The only difference is where the Turn 1/Turn 3 switch sends you. So every figure we measured for the home page applies here too.
- We checked history claims against a published source and kept only what Wikipedia's article on Klondike records.
- We took the two figures above from our study and from Blake and Gent (2026) without rounding them into something they are not. The computer player's 42.3% is a floor (it never looks ahead or undoes); the published 90.48% is a ceiling (it sees every card).
The technical side
Our Klondike simulations are written in Python 3.11 using only the standard library. The game lives in klondike.py; a shared runner.py spreads deals across 19 worker processes with Python's multiprocessing, and each deal is shuffled from its own numbered seed so any game can be replayed exactly. The computer player follows a fixed priority list of moves and sees only face-up cards. Its 95% ranges use the Wilson score method. An AI assistant (Claude, made by Anthropic) helped us write and review that code and draft this guide, but it produced none of the figures: they come from running the code, and we checked them against the published research before publishing.
By Admin, free-solitaire.nz. Checked: 19 September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called Klondike?
The name points to the Klondike gold rush in Canada's Yukon in the 1890s. The details of how it came to be attached to the game are not known for certain.
What is the difference between Klondike and "Solitaire"?
Usually none. "Solitaire" is the general word for one-player card games, and Klondike is the particular game most people mean by it. Our games page lists all 22 games on this site, from FreeCell to Pyramid.
Can I put any card in an empty column?
No. In Klondike only a King, or a run headed by a King, may fill an empty column.
Is there a limit on redeals?
As many as you like. Redeals are unlimited on this site.
Is this page different from the home page game?
The game is the same Turn 1 Klondike. This page explains the rules in depth; the home page reports what our research found about winning.
Where should I go after Klondike?
Try Solitaire Double for a bigger two-deck version, or Yukon, which uses the Klondike layout with no stock at all.