However, as a general rule, if completing a suit causes a column to vacate, it's not a mistake to do so. There are occasions when it pays not to finish building a suit, even though it's possible.However, well into the game, if it is to be won, a shift in strategy must occur to one more of ordering visible cards rather than turning hidden ones. In at least the first few rounds of play, the obvious strategy should be to attempt to vacate a column.Usually, one should play the combination of moves that results in the most gains, but what is given up should also be considered.

Attempt to find a combination of consecutive moves that accomplish some useful objective, such as turning a hidden card or vacating a column. One method is to do so at all costs, and another is to hold back some moves that might hinder access to hidden cards. Here are a few tips on how to beat Spider Solitaire: Please refer to Spider Solitaire 1 Suit for more basic strategy and to Spider Solitaire 4 suits for more advanced strategy and tips. One color for cards that can be moved over a card from the same suit (these are the preferred moves), and another for cards that can only be moved over a card from different suits.ĭepending on your settings - clicking a card may not move it over another non-same suit card, you may need to drag it (this behavior can be changed from the options menu) When clicking on 'Hint', moveable cards are marked with two different colors. At this point, if the player can move cards around and remove all cards from the Tableau, the game is won. This process of moving suited runs and initiating the next deal continues until there are no more piles left in the Stock. When all cards have been moved to the player's liking within the Tableau, they must click on the rightmost pile in the Stock to initiate the next deal. If onto another pile, the target card must be next in rank to the highest ranking card being moved however, it does not necessarily need to be the same suit. The rules of the game allow any suited run to be placed into an empty column.Ī suited run in the Tableau may be moved from the bottom of one pile and either into a vacant column or onto the bottom-most card in another pile. When the player manages to arrange a complete suited run from the King down to the Ace, it is automatically placed into a foundation location for storage.Ī column that contains no cards is said to be empty or vacant. All the cards being moved must be the same suit and, from up to down on the screen, must be descending in rank. In Spider Solitaire, groups of one or more consecutive cards are moved at a time within the Tableau.

This brings the card into play and can then be moved when appropriate. A card is turned (or flipped) automatically when all cards atop of it are removed. Part of what has to be done to win a game is for the player to turn (cause to become visible) all 44 hidden cards in the Tableau. The remaining 50 cards are sent to the Stock. Only the top (bottom-most on-screen) card in each pile is face-up (visible) while all the rest are face-down (hidden or invisible). When the game starts, a pile of 54 cards is dealt into each Tableau column, 6 into the leftmost 4 columns, and 5 into the remaining 6 columns. Spider Solitaire is played with two decks of standard playing cards, for a total of 104 cards. In effect, the goal is to empty the Tableau of all cards. The goal of Spider Solitaire is to build all 8 ordered suits from King down to Ace in the Tableau, each ordered suit is automatically sent to a foundation as it's completed. It's still one of the most played solitaire games today. The computerized version became very popular following its inclusion into Microsoft's Windows 98 Plus. Spider Solitaire is said to have gotten its name from the fact that spiders have 8 legs and the game has 8 foundations. It's played with 52 Hearts and 52 Spades. This version is meant for the intermediate player. Most prefer the Intermediate level, which is played with 2 suits. The Advanced level is played with all 4 suits and is rather difficult to beat. The Beginner level is played with only 1 suit and is relatively easy to beat. There are three different levels of difficulty. The game is played with two 52-card decks of standard playing cards.

However, if one is not into hard thinking and just wants to relax and be entertained, the game can be played at an easy level. It's a complex game that requires problem-solving skills to master. Spider Solitaire is a popular card game played around the world.

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