HT Games
Spider Solitaire is a popular patience game that's played with two decks of standard playing cards. The goal is to build eight stacks of cards in descending order, from King to Ace, all of the same suit.
Here are the official rules:
1. Setup:
* Cards: Use two standard decks of 52 cards, for a total of 104 cards.
* Deal: Deal 10 columns of cards face-down, with four cards in the first four columns, six cards in the next four columns, and one card face-up in the last column. This leaves 50 cards remaining in the deck.
* Suits: You can choose to play with either one suit (hearts, clubs, diamonds, or spades) or all four suits.
2. Gameplay:
* Moving Cards: You can move a card or a group of cards (a sequence) only if they are in descending order and of the same suit. For example, you can move a Queen of Hearts on top of a King of Hearts.
* Empty Columns: You can move a card or a sequence from any column to an empty column.
* Building Stacks: The goal is to build stacks of cards in descending order from King to Ace, all of the same suit. You can only place a card on a higher card of the same suit.
* Flipping Cards: You can flip a card face-up by placing it on top of another face-up card. This only applies to cards in the first 10 columns.
* Drawing Cards: When there are no more moves, you can draw a card from the remaining deck and place it face-up on the top of any column.
* Using the Stock: You can only draw a card from the stock once all other possible moves have been made.
* Reshuffling the Stock: Once the stock has been depleted, you can reshuffle the discards pile (the cards that have been placed on the top of the columns) and use them as the new stock. This can be done as many times as needed.
3. Winning:
* One Suit: You win when all eight stacks are completed, regardless of the suit.
* Four Suits: You win when all eight stacks are completed, and each stack is of the same suit.
4. Losing:
* You lose when you are unable to make any more moves and there are no cards left in the stock or discard pile.
5. Tips:
* Focus on creating sequences: Try to create as many sequences as possible, as this will give you more options for moving cards.
* Use empty columns strategically: Empty columns can be used to move cards around and create new sequences.
* Be patient: Spider Solitaire can be a challenging game. Don't give up if you don't win right away.
Remember, these are the official rules of Spider Solitaire. Variations exist, so be sure to check the specific rules of the version you are playing. Have fun!