Spider Solitaire

Spider Solitaire is widely seen as the hardest of the classic solitaire games. Ten tableau columns are dealt from two decks, and your goal is to build complete same-suit sequences from King down to Ace. Finished sequences lift off the board on their own. Clear all eight sequences to win.

Three difficulty levels control how many suits are in play. One suit (spades only) is a good place to learn. Two suits adds red and black. Four suits is the full test — only about 1 in 3 deals is winnable even with perfect play. That's what makes each win feel real.

Spider first appeared in a 1949 Coffin & Coffin book of solitaires. The name comes from the eight legs — the eight suit sequences you need to win. For decades it sat in Klondike's shadow. People thought of it as the thinking person's solitaire, since so much of the board is hidden.

Microsoft added it in Windows ME in 2000. It became the most-played alternative to Klondike. The four-suit version is genuinely hard — skilled players win about 30–40% of the time. One-suit Spider is winnable on almost every deal and is sometimes used to teach the game.