Play Klondike solitaire (Draw 1)

Klondike is the classic patience game often just called solitaire: seven columns, a stock and four foundations to fill from Ace to King. This page plays the Draw 1 version, where every draw turns a single card, so each stock card comes within reach on every pass. Deal Klondike Draw 1 now and the board opens right here, free, with no account and no money involved.

A round in progress is saved automatically in your own browser, so you can carry on later. Draw 1 keeps its own statistics, separate from Draw 3: rounds played, rounds won, best time and fewest moves for wins. If any term below is new to you, the glossary explains it.

How to win

Move all 52 cards onto the four foundations, one foundation per suit, each built from Ace up to King. As soon as every card is face up and the stock and waste are empty, the game offers Finish, which plays the remaining cards to the foundations for you.

Rules

The deal

• One 52-card deck is used.
• Seven tableau columns are dealt: column 1 has 1 card, column 2 has 2, and so on up to 7 cards in column 7. Only the top card of each column is face up.
• The other 24 cards form the stock. The four foundations start empty.
• Every deal shows its deal number, so a deal can be replayed.

Moving cards

• Foundations build up by suit, from Ace to King.
• The tableau builds down in alternating colours, for example a red 9 on a black 10.
• Any face-up run that is itself in descending, alternating order can be moved together.
• Only a King, or a run headed by a King, may fill an empty column.
• When a face-down card becomes the top card of a column, it turns face up automatically.
• Cards may be moved from a foundation back to the tableau, as long as the usual colour and rank rules are met.

The stock

• Each Draw turns one card from the stock to the waste. The top waste card can be played.
• When the stock is empty, Draw turns the whole waste back over into the stock. This is a recycle, and recycles are unlimited.
• A move is one completed action: a card move, a draw or a recycle.

End of the round

• Won: all 52 cards are on the foundations.
• Lost ("No moves left"): the stock and waste have been cycled once completely without any card moving to the tableau or foundations, and no tableau or foundation move exists.
• You can start a new deal at any time; the unfinished round then counts as abandoned.

Controls

• Tap or click a card, then tap its destination; or drag and drop it.
• Double-click or double-tap a card to send it to a foundation when that is legal.
• Draw (D) turns the next stock card, or recycles the waste when the stock is empty.
• Hint (H) highlights one legal move without making it; Auto move (A) plays the move the hint would show.
• Undo (U) is unlimited and can take you all the way back to the deal. New deal is N.
• On the keyboard, Tab moves between piles, Enter or Space selects and places, and Esc cancels a selection.

Tips

1. Uncover face-down cards first. The deal hides 21 cards face down. When two moves look equally good, choose the one that reveals a hidden card, especially in the longer columns on the right.
2. Only empty a column when a King is ready. A gap can take nothing but a King or a King-headed run, so clearing a column early just leaves a hole you cannot use.
3. Choose your King with care. If a red King and a black King both want the same empty column, look at the Queens. The King that can take an available Queen straight away usually unlocks more.
4. Do not rush everything to the foundations. A 6 or 7 may still be needed in the tableau to hold a 5 or 6 of the other colour. If you send one up too early, foundation cards can come back down.
5. Draw freely, but count your moves. In Draw 1 every remaining stock card turns up on each pass and recycles are unlimited, so no card is ever out of reach for good. Each draw and recycle still counts as a move.
6. Experiment with Undo. Undo is unlimited, so you can try a line of play and step back if it leads nowhere.

For a deeper look at planning ahead, read the strategy guide.

Related games

• Klondike Draw 3 uses the same layout but turns three cards per draw, with only the top one playable.
• Yukon starts from a similar deal but has no stock and lets you move any face-up card together with everything on top of it.
• FreeCell deals all 52 cards face up, so you can plan from the very first move.