You’re staring at a screen or a felt table covered in fifty-four cards. It looks like a mess. Honestly, the first time most people ask how do you play the card game spider, they’re usually looking at a game they’ve already lost without realizing it. It’s not like Klondike. You can’t just mindlessly click and hope for the best. Spider is a game of logistics. It is a game of managing empty spaces and fighting for every scrap of maneuverability you can get.
Most people think it’s just about stacking cards in descending order. That's a trap. If you play it that way, you’ll hit a dead end in five minutes. You have to think about the "hidden" cards trapped under those piles. If you don't expose them, you're dead in the water.
Setting the stage for the 104-card shuffle
You need two decks. That is the first thing to wrap your head around. We are talking 104 cards in total. In the standard version (often called "4-suit"), you have all the Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs from both decks mixed together.
The layout—the "tableau"—consists of ten columns. The first four columns have six cards each, and the remaining six columns have five cards each. Only the top card of each pile is face up. Everything else is a mystery. The remaining 50 cards sit in the "stock" pile. You’ll be dealing those later, ten at a time, but only when you’re absolutely stuck.
The goal is simpler than the process
Your mission is to build sequences of cards in the same suit, going from King all the way down to Ace. Once you finish a 13-card run (K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A) in a single suit, that entire stack flies off the board. You win when all eight sequences are cleared. Sounds easy? It isn't.
The basic moves and the suit problem
Moving cards is where the nuance starts. You can move any face-up card onto another card that is exactly one rank higher. You can put a 7 of Hearts on an 8 of Spades. That’s legal. However—and this is a massive "however"—you can only move a group of cards together if they are all part of the same suit and in perfect descending order.
Imagine you have a 9 of Spades, 8 of Spades, and 7 of Spades. You can move that entire chunk onto any 10. But if that 8 was a Heart? You’re stuck. You can’t move the 8 and 7 together. This is why "off-suit" builds are the bane of your existence. They help you clear space in the short term, but they create "tangled" columns that are incredibly hard to move later.
Why empty spaces are your only currency
If you manage to clear a column completely, you get an empty space. This is the most valuable resource in the game. An empty space allows you to park a card or a sequence temporarily while you reorganize another column. Professional players—and yes, there are people who take this very seriously—will tell you that an empty space is worth more than almost any individual King.
The strategic blunders of the stock pile
Eventually, you will run out of moves. You’ll look at the board, sigh, and click that stock pile in the corner. When you do, one card is dealt onto every single one of the ten columns.
Here is the kicker: you cannot deal from the stock if any of your columns are empty. The game forces you to fill every slot before you can get more cards. This feels cruel because the stock often buries your perfectly organized sequences under random junk. If you have a beautiful 6-5-4-3-2 run and the stock drops a Jack on top of it, that run is now "buried." You have to move that Jack before you can touch your sequence again.
Timing the deal
Don't deal until you’ve exhausted every possible move. Check every column. Can you shift a 4 to a 5 elsewhere to uncover a face-down card? Do it. Can you consolidate two small same-suit stacks? Do it. Dealing is an act of desperation, not a way to progress.
One suit vs. two suits vs. four suits
If you’re playing on a computer, you’ve likely seen the difficulty settings.
- 1-Suit: All cards are treated as Spades. This is basically a tutorial. Your win rate should be nearly 100%.
- 2-Suit: Usually Hearts and Spades. This is where the game actually begins. It requires real thought but is still very winnable.
- 4-Suit: The "Expert" mode. Even for world-class players, the win rate for 4-suit Spider is remarkably low—often estimated around 15-30% depending on whether you allow "undo" moves.
In 4-suit, the "tangle" happens instantly. You’ll find yourself with a Spade on a Heart on a Diamond on a Spade. None of those can be moved together. You’re forced to play a game of "Towers of Hanoi," shifting single cards back and forth just to expose one hidden card.
Real-world tips for the aspiring Spider architect
Let’s get practical. When you're figuring out how do you play the card game spider, you need a mental checklist.
First, prioritize uncovering the "shallow" piles. If a column only has two face-down cards, work that column first. Getting to an empty space is your primary objective. Once you have an empty space, you can start "cleaning" your other columns.
Second, don't be afraid to build "wrong" suits if it helps you flip a card. If moving a Red 7 onto a Black 8 reveals a face-down card, do it. Just have a plan for how to move that Red 7 off the Black 8 later.
Third, the King is a boulder. You can only move a King into an empty space. If you have a King sitting on top of three face-down cards, that column is effectively dead until you can clear it out and move the King. Be very careful about which Kings you decide to "unearth."
The "Undo" debate
Is using the "undo" button cheating? In the world of competitive Solitaire, some purists say yes. But realistically, Spider is a game of imperfect information. You don't know what's under that card. Using undo to see if a move is a dead end is a great way to learn the patterns. If you're playing for fun, use it. It's the best way to understand the "branches" of the game's logic.
Common misconceptions about the layout
A lot of beginners think they should try to build all eight sequences simultaneously. That is a recipe for a cluttered board. Focus on one or two "clean" sequences while using the other columns as "trash" piles for off-suit cards.
It’s also a myth that every game is winnable. In 4-suit, some deals are mathematically impossible. The cards might be buried in a way that you can never reach an empty space, or the stock deals might block every viable path. Acceptance is part of the game.
Tactical takeaways for your next game
If you want to actually win your next round of Spider, keep these three rules in mind:
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- Expose the face-down cards immediately. The game isn't about the cards you can see; it's about the ones you can't. Every face-down card is a barrier between you and victory.
- Empty spaces are for cleaning, not for storing. Don't just throw a King into an empty space because you can. Use that space to shuffle cards around and create same-suit sequences.
- Manage your "tangles." If you have to put a 5 of Clubs on a 6 of Hearts, try to move that 5 as soon as possible. The longer a "mixed" stack sits there, the more likely it is to get buried by the stock.
Spider is a game of patience and a bit of a grind. It’s about looking at a chaotic mess and slowly, painfully, imposing order on it. Once you stop treating it like a casual card game and start treating it like a logistical puzzle, you'll find that those eight sequences start coming together a lot more often.
Start by mastering the 2-suit version. It teaches you the "interlocking" mechanics without the sheer frustration of the 4-suit variant. Once you can win 2-suit consistently without using the undo button, you’re ready for the big leagues. Use your empty spots wisely, don't rush the stock, and always, always look for the hidden cards first.