Klondike Solitaire
When most of us think of the game solitaire, Klondike solitaire tends to be the version of the game we are thinking of. Klondike (solitaire) is the classic form of the patience game with which most of us are familiar, whether through memories of playing it on our old Windows computers or with physical decks even before that.
Free Klondike solitaire games are now easier to find than ever, and it remains one of the best simple card games to play to hone your mind, relax, or just to pass the time. Whether you’re a veteran of the game or you’ve never played before, there can still be a lot to learn about solitaire-Klondike.
Today, we’re going to give you our full guide on how to play and win at Klondike solitaire.
About Klondike Solitaire
Klondike solitaire is, simply put, the most popular and common solitaire game out there. There are many, many forms of solitaire which have caught on recently or in the past, but none are as widely played now as Klondike is.
The game, as best we can tell, became popular towards the end of the 19th Century. It’s thought the name derives from the region of Canada which was the base of the Klondike Gold Rush ending in 1899. The rules were first written down in 1907 in the form we would today recognise as Klondike classic solitaire.
It was made enormously more popular by its inclusion in Microsoft’s entertainment packs that came with their operating systems in the 1990s, and that enhanced popularity has endured ever since. Surprisingly, despite being the most popular form of the game, it also gives you among the lowest chances of “getting out”—i.e., winning—of any solitaire game. Your odds of winning on a random deal are around 1 in 30.
Now that you know a little bit about the game in general, let’s move on to the specifics of how to play.
How to Play Klondike Solitaire
What’s great about this game is that there are countless places you can play free online Klondike solitaire without any downloads or hassle. Simply type the name of the game into a search engine and you’ll be greeted with lots of different choices for playing the game. What’s even better is that you can play Klondike solitaire online free with no registration. You can play Klondike solitaire no download, too, easily in your browser.
To play Klondike solitaire, the game is all about building up sequences to ultimately complete sequential foundations by each suit starting with an ace. You have seven tableaus, a stock pile, a waste pile, and four foundations. Each tableau has an ascending number of cards in it, starting with one and going up to seven. The top card of each tableau pile is face up and available for play. As you move cards around, you will reveal these face down cards, giving you more options for building sequences and filling your tableaus.
With the basics covered, let’s take a more detailed look at the rules of Klondike solitaire.
How to Win in Klondike Solitaire
Playing Klondike solitaire free online is about playing a game of strategy. There’s naturally a lot of luck involved and, as we said, with Klondike the luck is largely not on your side. Here are some things you can do to improve your chances of winning:
- Take care and strategy with every move. While 1 in 30 games are winnable, even then, your win isn’t guaranteed. You have to take time and care with every move you make or you will end up stuck and unable to win. Try and think a few steps ahead, and don’t just make a move because you can—decide if it is the best move to make at that time.
- Create sequences evenly and don’t focus only on one or two sequences. Building your sequences is how you will free up the cards for the foundations, but you give yourself the best chance of freeing up the highest possible number of cards if you build the sequences evenly. If you have one very long sequence while neglecting the rest, some of your cards are bound to get stuck.
- Target the largest stacks of cards first. Revealing the cards that are face down in the tableaus should always be your top priority. You always want to try and focus on this and not on getting cards out of the stock pile. The stock pile is of course vital, but it will get much harder to free up cards in the tableaus as the game goes on, so try to do this early on.
- Avoid emptying a spot if you don’t have a king available. Empty spots are a really valuable asset in the Klondike solitaire card game, so you want to make sure you time it right. If you don’t have a king ready to play, try to wait and empty the tableau when you do.
Armed with these tips and strategies, as well as a bit of experience, you’ll be able to win Klondike solitaire games more and more. The form we have been talking about so far is known as classic Klondike, but are there any other versions of the game?
Variations of Klondike Solitaire
There are many versions of Klondike solitaire:
Turn One
This form of Klondike solitaire is the same except you only turn one card at a time from the stock pile, unlike three in the classic form of the game.
Double Deck
This is a form of Klondike solitaire in which two decks of cards are used instead of one. This means you must build up eight foundations rather than four, and the odds are even more heavily stacked against you.
Somerset/Usk
This form of solitaire deals all the cards out into the tableaus, rather than having any stock piles.
Tarot Deck
You can even play Klondike solitaire with a tarot deck, rather than a standard deck of playing cards!
FAQ
Even veteran players of Klondike solitaire may still have questions about the game, so let’s address some of the most common.
Klondike is a form of solitaire, as mentioned by far the most common and popular form of the game. So, there is no difference except in the sense that solitaire describes a wider range of games. However, most often, when the term “solitaire” is used without any modifiers, Klondike is the game being referred to.
Klondike as we play it today is not really the original form of solitaire. The precise origins of the game are not certain, though it’s plain that it went through some evolution to become the game we now know as Klondike.
Every deal is not winnable in solitaire. Indeed, on a random deal, the vast majority of the time you will not be able to win—around 1 in 30, as mentioned, are winnable. What’s great about Klondike solitaire online, though, is that you can play easy Klondike solitaire where you are given a deal with a greater chance of being solvable.