Klondike Solitaire (Turn 1)

Klondike uses one standard deck of 52 cards with no jokers. Aces are low and kings are high, so each suit runs A, 2, 3 … 10, J, Q, K.

The deal builds seven columns from left to right. The first column gets one card, the second two, and so on up to seven cards in the last column, 28 cards in all. Only the bottom card of each column is turned face up; everything above it stays face down. The remaining 24 cards form the stock, placed face down in the top-left corner. Next to it is the waste, which starts empty. On the right are four empty foundations, one for each suit.

This is the Turn 1 version: each tap on the stock turns exactly one card face up onto the waste. Only the top card of the waste can be played. When the stock runs out, tap the empty stock to turn the whole waste back over into a new stock in the same order and keep drawing. There is no limit on how many times you may go through the stock.

Cards in the columns are built downward in alternating colours: a red 7 can go on a black 8, a black 9 on a red 10, and so on. Suits do not matter here, only colour and rank.

You may move a single face-up card, or a whole run of face-up cards that is already in sequence, from one column to another. The rule is checked on the first card of the run: it must be one rank lower than the card it lands on and of the opposite colour. Whenever a move leaves a face-down card at the bottom of a column, that card is turned face up automatically.

An empty column can only be filled by a king, or by a run that starts with a king.

Each foundation belongs to one suit and is built upward in the same suit from ace to king. An ace starts a foundation; after that only the next card of that suit can be added. Cards can come from the top of the waste or from the bottom of any column.

A foundation card may also be moved back down onto a column when it fits the column rule. This is sometimes the only way to open a blocked position.

You win when all four foundations are complete, with 52 cards home. There is no time limit and no score to chase; the game records your time, moves and how many times you recycled the stock.

If no legal move is left at all, the game tells you there are no moves and offers to undo the last move or start another deal. If moves remain but none of them can make real progress, a short dismissible note says so and you can still undo or keep playing.

Tap or click a card to select it, then tap where it should go; you can also drag. When a card has exactly one legal destination, a single tap sends it there. Undo has no limit, Hint points out a useful move, and New deal lets you replay the same deal or start a different one. Once every card is face up and no unseen cards remain in the stock, an Auto finish button appears and sends the remaining cards home one by one; tap it again to stop. Each deal has an ID you can copy to replay exactly the same layout later.

Klondike is the best known of all patience or solitaire games, card games designed for one player. Its name is usually linked to the Klondike Gold Rush in the Canadian Yukon at the end of the nineteenth century, and card game books from the early twentieth century already describe the layout of seven columns and a stock. In many English-speaking countries the game is simply called "solitaire", while in Britain it is often called "patience".

The game reached a huge new audience when it was bundled with personal computers. For many people, dragging cards across a green table was the first thing they ever did with a mouse, and the rules have hardly changed since.

Klondike is played in two main ways. In Turn 1, the version on this page, you draw one card at a time, so every card in the stock is reachable on each pass. In Turn 3 you turn three cards at once and can only play the top one, which hides cards and makes the game noticeably harder. Turn 1 with unlimited passes is the friendliest setting and the best place to learn how Klondike works.

A game of Klondike takes only a few minutes, yet it is full of small decisions: which column to free first, when to move a card to the foundation and when to keep it on the table as a landing spot, and how to empty a column for a king. Not every deal can be won, but good play wins far more often than hasty play, and that gap is what makes the game rewarding.

• Uncover face-down cards first. When two moves look equal, choose the one that turns over a hidden card, especially in the longer columns on the right.
• Do not rush to empty a column. An empty column is only useful if you have a king ready to put there.
• Think before sending low cards home. Aces and twos can always go to the foundations, but a 5 or 6 may still be needed as a place to park a red or black 4.
• Pick your king. When a column becomes empty, choose the king whose move frees the most hidden cards.
• Use the stock as a resource. With unlimited passes you can afford to cycle through the stock to look for the card you need, so plan around what you have already seen.