Is Spider Solitaire harder than Klondike?

At 2 or 4 suits, yes — Spider demands more planning and punishes casual moves more heavily. 1 suit Spider is comparable to or easier than Klondike, which makes it a good bridge between the two games.

Which came first, Spider or Klondike?

Both are 19th–20th century patience games, but Klondike became the household default largely through its inclusion in early Windows, while Spider's popularity surged after shipping with later Windows versions. Spider takes its name from the eight foundations to fill — matching a spider's eight legs.

Is Klondike or Spider more skill-based?

Spider. Klondike outcomes lean more on the deal, since a high share of games are unwinnable and options are narrow. Spider — especially at 2 and 4 suits — gives a skilled player many more meaningful decisions per game.

If I'm good at Klondike, where should I start in Spider?

Start at 1 suit for a handful of games to absorb the different goal — building full King-to-Ace runs in the tableau — then move to 2 suits, which is where Spider's real character shows.

Spider Solitaire vs Klondike: What's Actually Different?

Klondike is the game most people simply call "solitaire" — the one with the seven piles and the aces going up top. Spider is its bigger, more strategic sibling. They share a table and a deck of cards, and almost nothing else. Here's the real comparison.

Side by side

	Spider Solitaire	Klondike (classic)
Decks	Two (104 cards)	One (52 cards)
Tableau	10 columns	7 columns
Building rule	Descending, any suit — but only same-suit runs move together	Descending, strictly alternating colors
Goal	Assemble eight full King-to-Ace runs in the tableau itself	Move all cards to four foundations, Ace to King by suit
The stock	Five deals of 10 cards, one onto every column	Flip through a draw pile (1 or 3 cards at a time), reuse allowed
Difficulty settings	1, 2 or 4 suits	Draw-1 or draw-3
Typical game length	10–30 minutes	3–10 minutes
Luck vs skill	Skill-heavy, especially at 2+ suits	Deal-heavy; many games unwinnable from the start

The philosophical difference

Klondike is a race: extract cards to the foundations as the draw pile cycles, and the deal decides much of your fate before you touch a card. Spider is a construction project: nothing leaves the table until you've assembled a complete thirteen-card run, so the game is about workspace management — which columns you empty, which stacks you allow to get messy, and when you accept the chaos of a stock deal.

That's why the two games reward different temperaments. Klondike suits short sessions and quick judgment; a game costs five minutes and a loss costs nothing. Spider rewards patience and planning — a single game is a sustained argument with the deck, and winning one, especially at 4 suits, feels like finishing a puzzle rather than winning a hand.

Which one is harder?

At equal settings, Spider. Klondike's difficulty is mostly imposed — a large share of deals simply can't be won, and when they can, the correct moves are often forced. Spider's difficulty is chosen: 1 suit is gentler than Klondike, 2 suits is a genuine contest, and 4 suits is among the hardest widely-played solitaires. The skill ceiling is simply higher — a strong Spider player beats a beginner by a far wider margin than a strong Klondike player does. (More on that in our winnability breakdown.)

Coming from Klondike? Three habits to unlearn

Stop hunting aces. In Spider, aces are the bottom of a run, not the ticket to the foundation. Kings, not aces, are the cards that need managing.
Color doesn't matter — suit does. Alternating red-black is irrelevant here. A red-on-black build that would be correct in Klondike is a self-inflicted block in Spider.
The stock is a commitment, not a resource. Klondike's draw pile can be cycled; Spider's stock deals are irreversible board-wide events. Treat each one like a chess clock ticking down.

Start at 1 suit for a few games to absorb the different goal, then settle in at 2 suits — that's where Spider's character lives. Our strategy guide picks it up from there.

Frequently asked questions

Is Spider harder than Klondike?

At 2 or 4 suits, yes. At 1 suit, it's comparable or easier — which makes it the natural bridge between the games.

Which is more skill-based?

Spider. Klondike leans harder on the deal; Spider gives a skilled player many more meaningful decisions per game.

Why is it called Spider?

The name comes from the eight foundations you must fill — one per completed suit run — matching a spider's eight legs.

I'm good at Klondike. Where do I start?

A few games at 1 suit to learn the goal, then 2 suits for the real thing.

▶ Try Spider Solitaire – start at 1 suit