History of Klondike Solitaire
Klondike Solitaire is named after the Klondike gold rush of the late 1890s, though patience games with similar mechanics appear in earlier European card literature. The name was popularized in North America during the rush, and the game spread from there worldwide. It became the most-played computer game in history after Microsoft bundled it with Windows 3.0 in 1990 — originally as a tool to teach users the mouse drag-and-drop gesture.
Today “solitaire” and “Klondike” are often used interchangeably, even though hundreds of solitaire variants exist.
Full rules
The 52-card deck is dealt into seven tableau columns in a triangle: one card in column 1, two in column 2, up to seven in column 7. The top card of each column is face-up; all others start face-down. The remaining 24 cards form the stock.
Tableau columns build downward in alternating colors. A properly ordered alternating-color sequence can move as a unit. Only a King (or a King-headed sequence) may fill an empty column. Foundation piles build upward by suit from Ace to King. Draw one or three cards from the stock to the waste; the top waste card is always available. In this implementation the waste can be recycled whenever the stock is empty, in either draw mode.
Draw-1 vs. draw-3
Draw-1 flips one stock card at a time. Every card in the stock is accessible in its natural position. It is easier to inspect the stock one card at a time.
Draw-3 flips three cards at once, but only the top one is playable. Two-thirds of the stock is effectively hidden at any moment, and reaching a specific card may require cycling through the stock again. Draw-3 rewards waste-card management: knowing when not to play a waste card is just as important as when to play one.
The hidden-card priority
Compare moves by what they make accessible. Flipping a face-down card reveals information; moving visible cards can also be useful if it opens a column for a King or sets up a later reveal.
Foundation timing follows a similar logic: moving a card to the foundation is safe when both opposite-color suits at rank minus one are already on their foundations. Until then, mid-rank cards may still be needed in the tableau to support alternating sequences.
Read the full Klondike strategy guide →
Klondike variants
- Yukon Solitaire — Klondike without a stock; all cards dealt at the start, any face-up card moves with everything above it
- Canfield — reserve pile replaces several columns; foundations start on a random rank and wrap around
- Easthaven — row deals from its stock onto the tableau
- Westcliff — ten short columns, stock and waste, and alternating-color building
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Klondike is part of Downtown · Klondike family.
More Klondike family games
- Agnes — Klondike-family with reserve deals and a variable base.
- Easthaven — Klondike that deals rows from the stock.
- Gargantua — Two-deck Klondike: 9 columns, 8 foundations.
- Kuiper — Triangular eight-column Klondike variant.
- Las Vegas Solitaire — Draw-one Klondike with a single pass through the stock.
- Nine Across — Nine-column Klondike with picked base rank.
Also try
- Gaps (Grid & sequence puzzles) — Fill four rows of gaps to build 2–K suit runs. No aces, three passes.
- Seahaven Towers (FreeCell & open packers) — FreeCell cousin: ten columns, same-suit builds, two cells.
- Beleaguered Castle (Castle games) — Eight columns flanking four aces.
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