Solitaire (Klondike) Tips to Win More Games

By Haroon Mustafa · Updated October 2026 · 4 min read

Klondike solitaire is more winnable than most casual players realize — the difference usually comes down to move order, not luck. These habits noticeably raise your win rate.

1. Don't rush cards to the foundation

It's tempting to send every ace and low card up to the foundation piles the moment it's available, but doing this too early often locks a card away right when you needed it to unblock a tableau column. Keep low cards on the tableau if they're actively helping you uncover hidden cards.

2. Prioritize uncovering face-down cards

Your main goal early in the game isn't scoring — it's revealing as many face-down cards as possible, since those are the only cards you don't yet have full information about. A move that flips a new card is usually worth more than a move that just tidies up already-visible cards.

3. Empty columns are extremely valuable

A fully empty tableau column can hold any card, making it one of the most powerful tools in the game for reorganizing a stuck position. Work toward emptying at least one column rather than spreading cards evenly across all seven.

4. Move kings to empty columns deliberately

Only move a king into an empty column when it actually unblocks something useful underneath. Filling your one empty column with a king too early can waste the flexibility that empty column was giving you.

Approaching Draw 3 hard mode

Playnook Games' Solitaire includes a Draw 3 hard mode, where you cycle through the deck three cards at a time instead of one, and only the top card of each group of three is playable. This makes stock-pile planning much more important — track roughly where useful cards sit in the draw cycle instead of hoping to spot them individually.

A good order for every move

When you have more than one move available, it helps to follow a fixed order. First, play any Ace or Two to the foundation, since they are never needed in the columns. Second, make any move that turns over a face-down card, preferring the column with the most hidden cards. Third, make moves that free up an empty column. Only after that, play cards from the stock. This order is not perfect in every game, but it beats playing whatever move you see first.

Which column to work on

The tallest column on the right side of the tableau usually holds the most face-down cards. Those hidden cards are where blocked Aces and low cards tend to be. If you have a choice between two moves, take the one that helps you dig into the biggest pile.

Draw 1 and Draw 3

In Draw 1 you see every card in the stock one at a time, so you can plan well and most games can be won. In Draw 3 only every third card is reachable on each pass, so it is harder. In Draw 3, think before you play a card from the waste pile. Taking one card changes which cards you will see on the next pass. Sometimes leaving a card in the waste is the better choice because it keeps a card you need in a reachable position.

Using Undo to learn

Playnook's Solitaire has Undo and a move counter. While you are learning, use Undo to test both sides of a choice, for example which of two black eights to move onto a red nine. After a few games you will start to see which choices open up the board. Then try to win with as few moves and undos as possible.

Common mistakes

Filling an empty column with any King that is free, when a King with a long run of cards behind it would have opened more space. Moving every card to the foundation as soon as possible, then finding you needed a red Four to hold a black Three. Cycling through the stock without a plan. If you have passed through the whole stock twice without a single useful move, the game is probably blocked, and starting a new one is fine.