Klondike Solitaire Tips: How to Win More Games

Updated June 2026

Klondike — the Solitaire that shipped with every computer for decades — is more winnable than it feels, but only if you stop playing greedily. Most lost games are thrown away by a few tempting moves that quietly close off the board. These priorities, applied in order, will noticeably raise your win rate.

The goal and the real obstacle

You are building four foundation piles up from Ace to King by suit, while organising the seven tableau columns down in alternating colours. The deck cards you cannot place go to the stock, which you flip through. The true obstacle is not the foundations — it is the face-down cards buried in the tableau. Every face-down card is information and a resource you cannot use until you expose it, so freeing them is what the whole game is really about.

Priority one: uncover face-down cards

Before any other consideration, ask whether a move turns over a new face-down card. A move that exposes a hidden card is almost always worth making, because it adds a fresh option and shrinks the buried pile. A move that shuffles already-visible cards around without revealing anything new gains you very little and can cost you flexibility. When choosing between two legal plays, the one that flips a face-down card usually wins.

Priority two: dig the biggest piles first

Not all face-down cards are equal. The columns that started with the most hidden cards are your biggest problem, because a card stuck at the bottom of a seven-deep pile can block the whole game. Direct your effort at unburying the tallest stacks. Clearing the long columns early gives you the most new cards and the best chance of opening a column entirely.

Priority three: empty columns are for kings only

An empty tableau column is powerful — but only a King (or a run starting with a King) can move into it. So do not empty a column unless you have a King ready to occupy it, or emptying it directly serves a clear purpose. An open column sitting idle while your only Kings are buried is wasted potential, and worse, you may be forced to fill it sub-optimally later. Plan the King before you clear the space.

Priority four: don't rush to the foundations

It is tempting to send every Ace, 2, and low card straight to the foundations, but cards on the foundation can no longer help you organise the tableau. A red 6 on the foundation cannot accept a black 5 the way it could in the columns. Send up Aces and 2s freely, but keep mid-value cards in play a little longer if they are useful as landing spots for alternating-colour runs. Promote a card only when you are sure you will not need it below.

Work the stock deliberately

Cycle through the stock with a plan rather than flipping mindlessly. Note which useful cards are coming up and how the cycle length lines up with when you will need them — in three-card-deal games, the order you make tableau moves can change which stock cards become reachable. When a stock card has an obvious home, take it; but if playing it forces an awkward tableau move, it is often better to leave it and come back on the next pass.

Think a move ahead before committing

Klondike punishes autopilot. Before a move that feels free, check that it does not strand a card you will want — for instance, covering a card you needed as a landing spot, or filling your only empty column with the wrong King. When two moves are both available, pause and ask which keeps more options open. Reversible, option-preserving moves beat flashy ones that commit you.

A priority order to play by

1. Play any Ace or 2 to the foundations.
2. Make moves that expose a face-down card, preferring the tallest hidden piles.
3. Open a column only when a King is ready to fill it.
4. Keep useful mid-value cards in the tableau rather than rushing them up.
5. Work the stock with the order of your tableau moves in mind.

Not every deal is winnable — some genuinely are not — but playing in this order wins a large share of the ones that are, and turns "bad luck" into "should have uncovered that column first".