Most people learn Klondike by watching someone else and copying the moves, which works until a disputed card sparks an argument or a program refuses a move you were sure was legal. A clear set of rules settles all of that. This is the complete rulebook for Klondike solitaire, written so a total newcomer can follow it and an experienced player can use it to check the fine print.
We will define the deck and layout, list every legal move, explain exactly how you win, and cover the small rule differences that separate one version of Klondike from another. Keep the free Klondike solitaire game open alongside this article and you can confirm each rule on a live board as you read.
The Deck and the Objective
Klondike is played with one standard 52-card deck, no jokers. The four suits split into two colours: hearts and diamonds are red, clubs and spades are black. That colour distinction matters constantly, because the tableau is built in alternating colours. Each suit runs from the Ace, the lowest card for foundation purposes, up through the number cards to the Jack, Queen, and King. Keeping that ordering clear in your mind is the first step to reading any legal move, since almost every rule that follows depends on comparing the rank and colour of two cards.
The objective is to build all four suits up on the foundations, each from Ace through King. Move every card home and the game is won. If you reach a position with no legal moves left and cards still on the table, the game is lost and you deal again.
The Four Areas of the Board
A Klondike layout is divided into four regions, and every rule refers to one of them.
The Tableau
The tableau is the main playing field: seven columns dealt in a staircase of one to seven cards, for 28 cards total. The bottom card of each column is face up and the rest are face down. This is where most of the puzzle-solving happens.
The Stock and the Waste
The 24 cards not used in the tableau form the face-down stock. Turning cards from the stock produces the face-up waste pile, whose top card is always playable. When the stock runs out, you can usually redeal the waste back into the stock and go through it again.
The Foundations
Four foundation piles, one per suit, sit above the tableau and start empty. They are the destination for every card and the measure of your progress.
The Legal Moves
Klondike allows a compact set of moves. Everything you do on the board is one of the following.
- Tableau to tableau: Place a card on one that is one rank higher and the opposite colour. A red seven goes on a black eight.
- Waste to tableau or foundation: The top waste card may move onto a legal tableau card or up to a foundation.
- Tableau to foundation: The exposed bottom card of a column may move to a foundation if it continues that suit in order.
- Foundation back to tableau: Most versions let you pull a card off a foundation back into the tableau if it helps, though you should do this sparingly.
- King to an empty column: Only a King, alone or leading a valid sequence, may occupy an empty column.
- Move an ordered group: A run of cards already in descending, alternating-colour order can be moved together as one unit.
Whenever a face-down card becomes the bottom card of its column, you turn it face up. Revealing hidden cards this way is the engine of the whole game.
How the Stock Works
The stock rules are where Klondike variants diverge the most, so they deserve their own section.
Draw One Versus Draw Three
In the draw-one version, each pass through the stock flips a single card to the waste, and you may play it or turn the next. In the draw-three version, cards are flipped three at a time and only the top card of each group is immediately available, which hides two out of every three cards behind it. Draw-three is the tougher, more traditional game. We break down the trade-offs in draw 1 vs draw 3 Klondike.
Redeals
Rules also differ on how many times you may cycle through the stock. Draw-one games sometimes limit you to three passes, while draw-three games often allow unlimited passes. Unlimited redeals make more deals winnable, so it is worth knowing which rule your game uses before you judge a deal as lost.
Winning, Losing, and Scoring
You win the instant all four foundations reach the King. Many digital versions then offer an autocomplete once every card is face up and the outcome is certain. You lose when no legal move remains and cards are still stranded on the board.
Beyond the simple win or loss, two scoring systems are common. Standard scoring awards points for moving cards to the foundations and for turning over tableau cards, and some versions add a time bonus that rewards finishing quickly. Vegas scoring treats the game like a wager: you pay a stake for the deck and earn a fixed amount for each card sent to a foundation, aiming to finish ahead over many deals. The rules of play are identical in both; only the bookkeeping changes, so you can pick whichever framing you find more motivating without learning anything new about how the cards move.
A Quick Rule Checklist
When you are unsure whether a move is legal, run through this short list in order.
- Is the destination one rank higher? Tableau builds go down by exactly one rank.
- Is the colour opposite? Tableau builds must alternate red and black.
- Is it a foundation move? Then it must be the same suit and exactly one rank higher than the current top card.
- Is the column empty? Then only a King may enter.
- Are you moving a group? Then the whole group must already be in valid alternating order.
Nearly every rejected move fails one of these five checks, usually the colour rule. Our article on common Klondike mistakes shows how to avoid the traps that even experienced players fall into.
How These Rules Compare to Other Solitaires
Klondike's rules are a useful baseline for the whole patience family. Spider solitaire drops the foundations entirely and instead has you build King-to-Ace runs within the tableau using two decks. FreeCell solitaire keeps foundations but deals every card face up and adds four free cells for temporary storage, which removes almost all the luck. Seeing how each variant bends the same core ideas makes all of them easier to learn; our comparison of Klondike vs Spider vs FreeCell puts them side by side, and if any term above was unfamiliar, the solitaire terms glossary defines them all.
Conclusion
The rules of Klondike are simpler than they first appear: one deck, seven staircased columns built down in alternating colours, a stock and waste that feed you fresh cards, and four foundations built up by suit from Ace to King. Learn the five-point legality check, know whether your game uses draw-one or draw-three and how many redeals it allows, and you can settle any dispute and read any board. Put the rules into practice on our free Klondike solitaire table, and browse the rest of our guides from the klondikesolitaire.info homepage.