Moonlit Spider

What is Spider solitaire?

Spider is the big two deck solitaire. You play with 104 cards across ten columns, and instead of building up on foundation piles you build long runs right on the table. Once a column holds a complete run from King down to Ace in a single suit, that run is finished and leaves the table. Clear eight runs and you've won.

Moonlit Spider plays the traditional rules in all three difficulty levels. It's free, it runs in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, and it remembers your game if you close the tab.

How to play Spider solitaire

The setup

54 cards are dealt into ten columns. The first four columns get six cards each and the other six get five. Only the top card of each column is face up. The other 50 cards wait in the deck in the corner, enough for five more deals of ten.

The moves

• Any suit, one rank lower. You can put a card on any card that's exactly one rank higher, whatever the suit. A 7 of hearts can go on an 8 of spades.
• Groups move only when they match. You can move several cards at once only if they're all the same suit and in order, like 9, 8, 7 of spades. A mixed group has to be taken apart one card at a time.
• Empty columns take anything. Unlike Klondike, any card or any movable group can go into an empty column.
• Turned cards flip up. Moving the last face-up card off a column reveals the card under it.
• Finished runs leave on their own. A full King to Ace run in one suit lifts off to one of the eight slots at the top. You don't have to do anything.

Dealing more cards

When you're stuck, tap the deck. It deals one card face up onto every one of the ten columns at once. There's one catch: every column has to have at least one card before you can deal, so you can't keep an empty column and deal at the same time.

1 Suit, 2 Suits and 4 Suits

Spider comes in three difficulty levels, and the only thing that changes is how many suits are in the two decks.

In 1 Suit, every card fits every run, so the only question is rank. Most deals are winnable with steady play. In 2 Suits, you start having to choose between building fast and building clean, because a mixed run can't be moved in one go. 4 Suits is the classic hard Spider: runs get mixed constantly and empty columns become precious.

For 1 Suit and 2 Suits, Moonlit Spider deals from shuffles we've checked can be won while the Winnable deals chip is on. 4 Suits deals are fully random, the way the expert game has always been played.

Controls

Tap a card to send it to its best spot, or drag it where you want it. When you tap, we prefer a home on a card of the same suit. Tap the deck to deal ten. Once the deck is empty and every card is face up, a Finish button can wrap up the game for you.

Keys: D or Space deals, U or Ctrl+Z undoes, H shows a hint, N starts a new game and Esc pauses. Undo has no limit.

Scoring

2 Suits multiplies all of that by 1.5 and 4 Suits doubles it. The stats screen tracks games, wins, win rate, streaks, best time and fewest moves separately for each mode and for the Daily Deal.

Daily Deal, ranks and unlocks

The Daily Deal is one 1 Suit game that's the same for everybody that day. Play it each day to build a day streak.

Wins raise your rank from Seedling to Night Gardener (1 win), Moth Friend (3), Web Weaver (6), Moon Tender (10), Silk Master (16), Star Spinner (25), Garden Keeper (40) and Moonlit Legend (70).

The garden changes too. You begin in the Moon Garden and open Rose Arbor at 2 wins, Lantern Night at 5, Frost Garden at 10 and Aurora Glade at 20. Card backs unlock at milestones (your first win, 3 wins, a Daily Deal win, a win with no Undo, then 8, 15, 30 and 60 wins) and they carry over to all of our card games.

Spider solitaire tips and strategy

Spider is less about spotting moves and more about keeping your options open. Here's what works for us.

• Empty columns are your best tool. An empty column lets you take apart a mixed run, park a card, or rearrange two piles. Try hard to make one early, and think twice before filling it with something that can't easily move again.
• Same suit beats any suit. When a card could go on two different 8s, put it on the one that matches its suit. A same suit run can travel as a group later. A mixed one can't.
• Turn over face-down cards whenever you can. Every hidden card is information you don't have yet. Between two similar moves, pick the one that flips a card.
• Be careful with Kings. A King can only ever move into an empty column. Dropping one into your only empty space should be a deliberate choice, ideally when you can build a clean run on it right away.
• Tidy up before you deal. A deal drops a card on every column, which can bury a run you were almost done with. Before tapping the deck, make every useful move, and try to finish or protect runs that are nearly complete.
• You can't deal with an empty column. If you've got one open and nothing left to do, move a single card into it (ideally one you can lift back out) so the deal is allowed.
• In 2 and 4 Suits, don't mix runs lightly. Putting a heart on a spade looks free but ties those cards together. It's fine to do when it uncovers a card or frees a column. It's a mistake when it's just a move for the sake of moving.
• Clear the short columns first. Six of the ten columns start with only five cards. Those are your best chance at an early empty column.

If Spider clicks for you, try Yukon Trail next. It has the same feel of digging through deep columns, with a twist on which cards you're allowed to move.

Questions