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247 Solitaire

Welcome to 247 Solitaire, the best place to enjoy classic Solitaire for players of all ages and experience levels! Simply click play, and you’ll be able to play Solitaire right on your browser—totally free, no login required. Track your best times across games and different variations!

How to play Solitaire

solitaire setup

Once you hit play, the action begins! The game will automatically arrange your beginning setup. In the bottom left, there’s a timer, and your best time is on the bottom right. There are buttons to start a new game, access settings, and undo the last move.


solitaire settings

In the settings, you can turn autoplay on and off, turn sound on and off, view your game statistics, and view the instructions of the game (just in case the following explanation isn’t enough).


solitaire tableaus

The cards on the board are called the tableau. As you can see, there are seven stacks of cards, each with one more face-down card than the next. You may arrange cards in descending order on the tableau, switching between suits.

For example, here, you’d be able to move the red queen on top of the black king, but you wouldn’t be able to put the red 5 on top of the red 6. The face-down cards are revealed when there are no face-up cards in front of them. Revealing all the cards on the tableau is an important strategy of the game. When there’s an empty spot, only a king can fill it, so keep that in mind!


solitaire foundations

The spaces above are called foundations. The objective of the game is to arrange the cards from the tableau into the four suits—clubs, diamonds, spades, and hearts—in ascending order starting with the ace. You must have the appropriate ace down before building on your foundations. Completing your foundations means you’ve won the game!


solitaire stock and waste piles

The stack in the upper left is called the stock, which is a pile you can draw from to reveal new cards and add them to the tableau if you’re able. The discard pile next to it is called the waste, where unused stock cards are kept in order of draw. When the stock runs out, the waste is brought back into it in the same order. In this version of Solitaire, 1 Card Solitaire, you draw cards from the stock one at a time.


solitaire gameplay

Now, you can begin playing! As you can see, the game is all about arranging cards in order. And remember: once you finish your foundations, you win!

Solitaire Strategy

The objective of 1 Card Solitaire is to fill your foundations in ascending order from Ace to King by suit. On the tableau, you must place cards in descending order from King to Ace, and they must alternate colors. Also, you can only begin a new stack on the tableau with a King, and the waste pile must maintain the same order that you drew them.

With those rules understood, the best strategy to begin is to reveal as many face-down cards on the tableau as you can. Beginners will start going through the stock immediately, but these cards aren’t going anywhere. If you start filling up stacks on top of those face-down cards, it’s going to be harder to reveal them. If you can find some Aces this way, that’s great!

Once you’ve done what you can on the tableau, you can go through the stock. The stock is a good place to fish for specific cards since you’ll know exactly what’s there. Plus, finding Aces in there means you can start building foundations from the tableau or from the stock as well! Remember that once you finish revealing the stock, the waste is placed back into the stock in the exact same order.

You’ll be repeating these processes for the rest of the game. As you’re going, place any card in the foundations as you can. Otherwise, build your stacks to reveal more cards on the tableau. Once you’ve revealed all the cards on the tableau, it’s just a matter of time until you’ve won! After that, it’s about getting better, which is why we provide a timer to see your best time.

Solitaire FAQs

Is Solitaire a skill-based game?

Yes, there is a great deal of skill involved in Solitaire. While the game itself does rely on luck and chance a lot, it’s what you do with the draw that matters. Of course, it’s not always possible to win if you’re unlucky, but a player who knows the right moves at the right time will be able to pull through an otherwise tricky situation.

Is there any difference between Solitaire and Patience?

No, these terms typically refer to the same kind of single-player card games. Solitaire is used in North America while Patience is usually used in the UK and Europe. They’re often used interchangeably.

How many types of Solitaire are there?

There are so many variations of Solitaire, and variations of those variations, that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how many there are. However, 247 Solitaire offers eight different varieties: 1 Card Klondike, 3 Card Klondike, Freecell, Spider Solitaire, 2 Suit Spider, 4 Suit Spider, Scorpion, Wasp, and Yukon. That’s a lot of Solitaire!

How many decks are used in different versions of Solitaire?

Some versions of Solitaire, like Klondike, use a single standard 52-card deck. Others, like Spider, involve two sets of decks. Make sure you read the rules of the version you’re playing to see how many decks are needed.

Is there a difference between Solitaire and Klondike?

Solitaire is a broad category of single-player card games, and Klondike is a specific version of Solitaire. However, in the United States and Canada, the term “Solitaire” is simply used for Klondike, as it's the most well-known version of the game in those areas.

What’s the history of Solitaire?

Solitaire has a long, storied history. It was introduced to the world in Baltic Europe, and then rose to popularity as a solo card game in the mid-18th century in places like Russia, Germany, France, and England. It was a simple card game that anyone could play; because of that, Solitaire was used as a way to teach new users of the PC how to interact with a computer interface and mouse controls. Interesting, right? Check out our deep dive into the history of Solitaire.

Do you have to have experience to win at Solitaire?

Absolutely not! It’s a really simple game to learn and play. However, it does usually take a few hands to understand all the mechanics and strategies at play. Don’t be discouraged if you’re not able to finish games as a beginner—practice makes perfect!

Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER: The games on this website are using PLAY (fake) money. No payouts will be awarded, there are no "winnings", as all games represented by 247 Games LLC are free to play. Play strictly for fun.