紙牌接龍

Klondike Solitaire: rules, tactics and practical play

Build seven columns and move every suit from Ace through King to the foundations. This guide reflects the controls and win conditions in the current browser build. It is reviewed by the PocketJoy game-testing team and maintained by Long-Term New Media Limited.

Rules and win conditions

This is classic Klondike. Seven columns are dealt with one to seven cards from left to right, only the top card of each face up and the rest hidden. Within a column, cards build downward in alternating red and black. The four foundations at the top right build up by suit from Ace to King. Tap a card and then its destination to move it, or double-tap a top card to send it straight to a foundation without hunting for the target. An empty column can only be filled by a King, or by a sequence headed by one. The stock can be cycled repeatedly and the waste returns to it automatically with a notice when exhausted. Time and moves are recorded, with wins and fastest time stored on your device, and an auto-collect button clears every safely collectable card at once.

Ideas and approach

The real objective in solitaire is not collecting cards but turning over the hidden ones. Prioritise moves that reveal a face-down card, and work on the column with the most hidden cards first, since that is where the most unknown information sits and the longer you leave it the more likely it becomes a deadlock. An empty column can only be filled by a King, so do not rush to clear a column until you have a King available — an empty column left idle for a long time is simply wasted. Be restrained about sending cards to the foundations: low cards left in play often act as the bridge for your next sequence, and if you need a red three for a black four, a red three already collected cannot be retrieved. A practical safety rule is that a card is usually fine to collect once both foundations of the opposite colour have reached one rank below it. Before drawing from the stock, exhaust every move available on the tableau, because tableau information is far more valuable than stock: stock cards cycle and will come round again, while a tableau opportunity can vanish with a single move.

Common mistakes

The most common mistake is collecting whatever can be collected, sending twos, threes and fours to the foundations early, then needing a red three for a black four that is no longer available. The second is shuffling cards around without revealing anything — before each move, ask whether it turns over a hidden card, enables a foundation play, or creates the conditions for the next move; if none of the three, it is usually not worth making and inflates your move count besides. The third is cycling the stock constantly while ignoring the tableau: stock cards recur and are in no hurry, whereas every tableau move can change the position. The fourth is emptying a column with no King to place. An empty column is a scarce resource but useful only for a King, so if you neither hold nor can see one, clearing a column gains nothing and those moves would have been better spent elsewhere.

Who it suits

Good for anyone who enjoys classic card games and wants to unwind. Klondike is the most widely known single-player card game and most people can start without learning anything. It became one of the most-played computer games in the world when it shipped with Windows 3.0 in 1990, where Microsoft's motive resembled that behind minesweeper: teaching users mouse drag-and-drop. Not every deal is winnable, and unsolvable hands are part of the game — studies estimate that around 79 to 82 per cent of deals are theoretically solvable under standard rules, while real players, who cannot see the face-down cards, typically win 30 to 40 per cent, because decisions must be made on incomplete information. That very fact that not every game can be won is part of why it stays engaging. A round takes roughly ten minutes.

Features

The run panel shows time and moves, while a records panel keeps your win count and fastest completion, and separating the two lets you pursue winning more often and winning faster as distinct goals. Auto-collect sends every card that can safely go to the foundations in one action, removing the purely mechanical clean-up at the end; and when nothing is collectable the game says so plainly rather than leaving you pressing a button with no visible effect. When the waste is exhausted it cycles back to the stock with a notice, so you need not track how many passes remain. After selecting a card the status line prompts you to choose a destination, and an illegal placement explains that the card cannot go there, so the rules enforce themselves and newcomers need not fear an invalid move. A new deal is always available.

Controls and local records

Tap a card and then its destination to move it, or double-tap a top card to send it straight to a foundation without hunting for the target, which saves considerable effort during the collecting phase at the end. Mouse and touch follow identical logic and no dragging is required, so there is no risk of slipping a card onto the wrong pile, and card sizes are tuned for one-handed use on a phone. Illegal moves are refused with an explanation rather than silently ignored. A new deal is available at any point rather than only once the game ends. Your record and fastest time are stored in the browser's local storage on your own device, with no account and nothing uploaded to any server; clearing browser data removes them. The language button switches the interface between Traditional Chinese and English instantly, updating every panel label and prompt. Once loaded the game plays offline.

Rules questions

Avoiding dead ends: see Solitaire Strategy for Beginners.

Reviewed by the PocketJoy game-testing team · Operated by Long-Term New Media Limited · hklongtermad@gmail.com