Most people play a few rounds of Spider Solitaire on their phones while waiting for a bus and think they've mastered the game. Then they switch the settings from one suit to four. Suddenly, the game becomes a nightmare. You’re staring at a screen full of King-high columns that won’t move, and you’ve got two cards left in the deck. It feels rigged. Honestly, it isn't. But spider solitaire four suits is a completely different beast than the version you play with just Spades. It’s arguably one of the hardest solo card games ever devised, with win rates for average players hovering somewhere around 5% to 10%.
You’ve probably seen experts claim they can win 80% or 90% of the time. They aren't lying. But they also aren't playing the way you are. They aren't just matching numbers; they are managing "trash" piles and calculating the "hidden cost" of every single move they make.
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The Math of the Four-Suit Grind
In the single-suit version, every move is a "clean" move. If you put a 6 of Spades on a 7 of Spades, you can move that entire stack whenever you want. In spider solitaire four suits, you’re dealing with 104 cards across four distinct suits: Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. The moment you put a Heart on a Spade, you’ve created a "dirty" sequence. You can still build on it, but you can’t move it as a unit. This is the fundamental trap.
Most beginners see a move and take it immediately because it uncovers a face-down card. While uncovering cards is good, doing it at the cost of locking up a column with three different suits is a death sentence. You have to think about the mobility of your stacks. A stack of six cards that are all the same suit is an asset. A stack of six cards with four suit changes is a liability. It’s basically a wall you built yourself.
Stop Clearing the Easy Columns First
It sounds counterintuitive. You want that empty space, right? An empty column is the most powerful tool in the game because it lets you move cards around to reorganize sequences. But if you burn through your "easy" columns—the ones with fewer face-down cards—early in the game, you’re left with massive piles of face-down cards that you can’t reach.
Experienced players, like those who frequent the Solitaire100 or Microsoft Casual Games communities, often talk about "deep digging." You should be targeting the columns with the most face-down cards first. It’s harder. It’s frustrating. But if you don't get those cards into play while you still have a few "clean" sequences, you’ll never get to them later when the board is cluttered with garbage.
The Power of the Empty Hole
When you finally get an empty column, don't just shove a King in there. This is a classic mistake. Once a King goes into an empty spot, that spot is dead until you finish the entire suit. Instead, use that empty space as a temporary staging ground. Move cards back and forth to consolidate suits. If you have a 5-6-7 of Diamonds scattered across three different columns, use the empty space to stack them together. Only after you’ve tidied up the board should you consider "parking" a King in that slot.
Dealing with the Deal
The "Deal" button is your best friend and your worst enemy. In spider solitaire four suits, you get five rounds of dealing 10 new cards—one for each column. You cannot deal if any column is empty. This is why you must fill your empty slots before hitting that button.
But here’s the thing: the deal almost always ruins your board. It drops random cards onto your carefully organized sequences. The trick is to have as many "clean" sequences as possible before you deal. If you have a column that is purely Hearts, and a random Club drops on top of it, you only have one "wrong" card to move to get back to your clean stack. If that column was already a mess of four suits, the new card just adds to the chaos, making it nearly impossible to uncover the cards underneath.
Why You Should Use Undo (And Why You Shouldn't)
There’s a massive debate in the solitaire world about the "Undo" button. Some purists think it’s cheating. But if you’re playing spider solitaire four suits to learn the strategy, the undo button is your greatest teacher.
When you uncover a card and it’s a 3 of Clubs that you can’t use, undo it. Try uncovering a card in a different column instead. This isn't just about winning; it’s about seeing how the "decision tree" of the game works. You start to realize that the move that looked "obvious" was actually the one that blocked your path to victory ten moves later.
The "Same Suit" Priority Rule
If you have a 9 of Spades, and you have two 10s available—a 10 of Spades and a 10 of Hearts—you take the 10 of Spades 100% of the time. Even if the 10 of Hearts is sitting on top of a face-down card you really want to see.
Keeping suits together is the only way to maintain mobility. In the late game, mobility is more valuable than anything else. You can have 90% of the cards face-up, but if they are all cross-suited, you’re going to lose. You’ll be stuck with a screen full of cards and no legal moves. It’s a miserable way to go out.
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Managing the Kings
Kings are the "stoppers." They can’t be placed on any other card. They are the start of every sequence, but they are also the biggest obstacles. If you have a King sitting in the middle of a pile with five cards under it, your primary goal in life is to get that King moved to an empty column.
A common trap is having all four Kings of different suits scattered across the board. If you can manage to get two Kings of the same suit together (by clearing two columns), do it. It simplifies the logic of the board.
Knowing When to Quit
Let’s be real. Some deals in spider solitaire four suits are literally impossible. Mathematically, it has been estimated that over 90% of games are winnable, but that assumes "perfect play" with total knowledge of the face-down cards. For a human, some games are just non-starters. If you’ve dealt the final round and you have zero empty columns and no way to create one, it’s probably over. Don't beat yourself up.
Practical Strategies for Your Next Game
To actually improve your win rate, stop playing fast. This isn't a speed game. It’s a puzzle.
- Look for the "natural" moves first. If you can move a card onto the same suit, do that before anything else.
- Count your face-down cards. If one column only has one card left face-down, that’s your target for an empty space.
- Delay the deal. Only hit that deck when you have absolutely no other moves that could improve your position.
- Prioritize "cleaning" over "uncovering." It is often better to spend five moves organizing a stack into a single suit than it is to spend one move uncovering a single card.
- Don't fear the King. If you have an empty slot and a King is blocking a huge stack of cards, move the King. Just be aware that you've "locked" that slot for a while.
The jump from two suits to four is the biggest difficulty spike in casual gaming. It requires a shift from "reactive" play to "proactive" planning. You aren't just playing the cards you see; you're playing against the cards you haven't seen yet.
Start by focusing on suit consolidation. Even if it means passing up a chance to reveal a new card, try to keep your stacks as "clean" as possible. This one change in mindset—prioritizing the ability to move stacks over the urge to see what's hidden—will immediately increase your success rate. Once you can consistently clear at least two or three suits before the final deal, you'll know you've moved past the beginner phase and into the realm of real Spider Solitaire strategy.