How to Play Solitaire

Solitaire, traditionally known as "Patience," is a classic single-player card game. The objective is to organize a shuffled deck into four organized foundation piles. On Trivia Clue, you can play unlimited rounds of Klondike Solitaire for free on your phone, tablet, or desktop.

The Objective

Your goal is to move all cards into the four empty foundation piles. These piles must be built by suit in ascending order, starting with the Ace and ending with the King (A → 2 → 3 ... → K).

Game Setup

A standard game of Klondike Solitaire consists of four main areas:

  • The Tableau: This is the main playing area, featuring 7 columns. The first column has one card, the second has two, and so on, until the seventh column has seven cards. Only the top card of each column is face-up.
  • The Stockpile: The remaining 24 cards are placed face-down here. You draw from this pile when you run out of moves on the tableau.
  • The Waste Pile: When you draw from the stockpile, cards are placed face-up here. Only the top card of the waste pile is available for play.
  • The Foundation Piles: Four empty slots where you build your completed suits from Ace to King.

Core Rules

To win the game, you must move cards according to these specific rules:

  1. Tableau Movement: You can move a card to another column if it is the opposite color and one rank lower than the target card. Example: A red 6 can only be placed on a black 7.
  2. Moving Sequences: You can move groups of cards as long as the entire sequence follows the "opposite color, descending rank" rule.
  3. Revealing Cards: Once a face-up card is moved, the face-down card beneath it is flipped over and becomes playable.
  4. The Stockpile: If you have no moves left on the tableau, draw a card from the stockpile. Once the stockpile is empty, you can recycle the waste pile to start again.
  5. Empty Columns: Only a King (or a sequence starting with a King) can be placed in a completely empty tableau column.
  6. Building Foundations: Always start a foundation pile with an Ace. Once an Ace is placed, you may add the 2, 3, and so on, of that same suit.

Winning Strategies

  • Prioritize the Tableau: Focus on revealing face-down cards in the columns before drawing from the stockpile. This opens up more possibilities for movement.
  • Clear Large Columns First: Target columns with the most face-down cards first to get those hidden cards into play.
  • Play Aces and 2s Immediately: These cards are never useful for building sequences in the tableau, so move them to the foundation piles as soon as they appear.
  • Think Before Moving to Foundations: While Aces and 2s should be moved instantly, think twice before moving higher cards (like a 5 or 6) to the foundation. You might need them in the tableau to move other cards around.
  • Open Spaces for Kings: Try to empty a column as quickly as possible so you have a place to put any Kings that are blocking your progress.

Scoring on Trivia Clue

Unlike traditional games where you want a high score, the goal on Trivia Clue is to achieve the lowest score possible. Your performance is calculated using a simple formula:

Score = Total Moves + Time (in seconds)
  • Moves: Every card movement counts as 1 point.
  • Time: Every second elapsed counts as 1 point.

To get a leaderboard-topping score, you must balance efficiency and speed. For example, winning a game in 100 moves over 120 seconds (2 minutes) would result in a final score of 220.