Solitaire games

Play solitaire at Starbie

Card solitaire games, also known as patience games, are single player games in which you lay out cards in particular patterns called a tableau. Cards may face up or down. Your objective is to make sure all the cards face up and to sort them by suit and in the right order. You can either sort the cards in the tableau, or move them to the foundation piles beneath or above the tableau. In many variations of the game, there is also a reserve stack you can draw additional cards from.

Passing the time with card solitaire

Solitaire is a popular game to pass the time, particularly before the days of mobile phones, laptops, and TV. Now, there are lots of easily accessible online versions of patience. The most well-known version is Klondike, which is sometimes also referred to as classic solitaire. Draw cards, sort them in descending order in the tableau by alternating the black and red suits, and find the aces so that you can move the cards to the foundation in ascending order.

Solitaire variations

On this page, you’ll find a large selection of different types of solitaire card games. To help you tell them apart and find what you’re looking for, here’s a brief overview of some of the most popular editions.

Pyramid

In pyramid solitaire, the cards are arranged in the shape of a pyramid or big triangle. You can remove the face up cards by making combinations that add up to 13. Trident Solitaire is an example of such a game.

Tri Peaks

Tri peaks is sometimes also called three peaks or towers. The cards are laid out in the shape of three smaller pyramids. Your objective is to clear away the cards that are facing up by moving them to the discard stack. You can only clear cards that are either one rank higher or one rank lower than the top card on the discard stack.

Spider

In Spider Solitaire, all the building and sorting takes place within the tableau. Only when a suit is completed in descending order will it be moved from the tableau to the foundation cells. You can play a relaxed version with one or two suits, or a challenging version with all four.

Free cell

In the Free Cell tableau, all the cards are already facing up. Pick up the top cards (or sequences) and move them around to sort the cards. However, the cards stored in your free cells determine how many cards you are allowed to move at once.

Two Deck games

Some solitaire games are played with two decks, providing an extra challenge. This is the case with games like Spider, but also Algerian Solitaire and Crescent Solitaire. If you have the time for a tough challenge, try out one of these games!