How to win at Spider Solitaire

The goal in one paragraph

Spider uses two decks, 104 cards, dealt into ten columns. The first four columns get six cards, the other six get five, and only the top card of each is face up. The other 50 cards wait in the stock, enough for five more deals of ten. You win by building eight complete runs from King down to Ace, each in a single suit. A finished run lifts off the table on its own.

Two rules shape every decision. First, any card can go on a card one rank higher, whatever the suit. Second, you can only move a group of cards together if they're all the same suit and in order. A mixed group has to come apart one card at a time. Everything below follows from those two rules.

Pick the right number of suits

In Moonlit Spider the only thing that changes between modes is how many suits are in the two decks. 1 Suit is 104 spades, so every card fits every run and the only question is rank. 2 Suits mixes spades and hearts. 4 Suits uses all four and is the classic hard game. Scores are multiplied by 1x, 1.5x and 2x.

If you're losing most games, step down a level. With the Winnable deals chip on, 1 Suit and 2 Suits deal only from shuffles we've checked can be won, so every loss is a lesson rather than bad luck. 4 Suits deals are fully random, and some of them can't be solved at all. That's normal, not a sign you're doing it wrong.

The opening: flip cards and aim for a gap

Your first job is information. Every face-down card is something you don't know yet, so between two similar moves, take the one that turns a card over. Each flip is also worth 5 points.

Your second job is an empty column. Look at the six short columns first. They started with five cards, so they're the cheapest to clear. Moving two or three cards off one of them early can give you a gap that changes the whole game.

When a card could go on two different cards of the right rank, put it on the one of the same suit. A same-suit run can travel later as a group. A mixed one can't. Moonlit Spider already prefers a same-suit home when you tap a card, but it's worth checking, especially in 4 Suits.

Empty columns are your best tool

An empty column takes any card or any movable group, which makes it the most flexible thing on the table. With one, you can take apart a mixed run, park a card while you rearrange two piles, or swap the order of two runs. Treat it like a tool, not a home.

• Don't fill it for nothing. Dropping a single card into a gap with no follow-up turns your best space into a one-card parking spot.
• Be careful with Kings. A King can only ever move into an empty column. Put one there on purpose, ideally when you can build a clean run on it straight away.
• Use a gap to sort, then take it back. A common pattern: move a mixed group into the gap one card at a time, rebuild it in suit on the right cards, and leave the column empty again.

When to deal from the stock

Tapping the stock deals one card face up onto every column at once. That can bury a run you were nearly done with, so deal only after you've made every useful move. Before you tap, look for runs that are almost complete and try to finish them or move them somewhere safe.

There's one rule that catches people: every column needs at least one card before you can deal. If you've got an empty column and nothing else to do, move a single card into it first, ideally one you can lift back out later, and then deal.

You get five deals in a game. Count them. If you have two left and the table is a mess, it's usually better to spend a few minutes untangling with your gap than to deal and hope.

Building clean in 2 and 4 Suits

In 1 Suit, a run is always clean. In 2 and 4 Suits, putting a heart on a spade looks free but ties those cards together until you have space to split them. It's fine when it uncovers a card or frees a column. It's a mistake when it's just a move for the sake of moving.

A good habit in 4 Suits is to ask what each move gives you. If the answer is a flipped card, a gap or a cleaner run, make it. If the answer is nothing, wait and look for something better. Undo has no limit in Moonlit Spider, so you can test a line and take it back.

How scoring rewards good play

So the biggest single bonus after the win is not touching Undo. Once you can win 1 Suit reliably, try a game with no Undo at all. It forces you to look two moves ahead, which is exactly the skill that wins 4 Suit games.

The Daily Deal and a checklist

The Daily Deal is one 1 Suit game that's the same for everybody that day, so it's a good place to compare times. Play it on back-to-back days to build your day streak. Wins also raise your rank from Seedling to Moonlit Legend at 70 wins and open new gardens, and the card backs you unlock carry over to all of our card games.

1. Flip face-down cards whenever you can.
2. Work on the short columns to make an early gap.
3. Prefer same-suit placements.
4. Use empty columns to sort, not to store.
5. Make every useful move before you deal, and never deal with a gap open.
6. Drop a suit level if you keep losing, and climb back up when you don't.

For the full rules and controls, see our Moonlit Spider guide. If you like digging through deep columns, Yukon Trail has the same feel with a twist on which cards you can move, and you'll find every other solitaire on our solitaire page.

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