By Online Solitaire Free Editorial Team · Editorial Standards
Learn about solitaire variants. Discover strategies, tips, and guides for playing free solitaire games online.
A solitaire variant is any member of the single-player card game family that differs in meaningful rules, layout, or win condition from another member of the same family. The word "variant" is used loosely across the patience tradition — some games described as variants share only the broadest structural properties with their relatives, while others differ from a parent game by a single rule change. The result is a family of several hundred distinct games, developed across roughly two centuries of invention, adaptation, and codification, that share a common ancestor in the patience card games first documented in 18th-century northern Europe.
Understanding the range of solitaire variants — what distinguishes them from each other, how they were invented, and what strategic demands each makes on the player — is the most efficient route into the breadth of the patience tradition. Most players know three or four variants from childhood or from the games pre-installed on their first computer. The actual catalogue is far larger, far more varied, and contains games at every point on the difficulty spectrum from immediately accessible to genuinely expert-level. This article covers the most famous and historically significant solitaire variants invented over the past two centuries, grouped by structural type and ordered roughly by their period of widespread recognition.
For the full story of how individual variants emerged and gained popularity through print collections and digital distribution, see our evolution of solitaire on computers and how solitaire became one of the most played games in the world.
The three variants most widely known today achieved their mass recognition through the same route: inclusion in the Microsoft Windows operating system between 1990 and 1998. All three were invented or codified before their digital distribution, however, and each has a distinct structural identity that explains why it was selected to represent the patience family to a global audience.
Klondike — codified c. 1890s. The world's most played card game by total sessions and cumulative playing time. Klondike deals 28 cards into seven tableau columns, with one to six face-down cards beneath the initial face-up card in each column. Cards are built onto each other in alternating colours and descending rank; complete sequences move to four foundation piles built by suit from Ace to King. The remaining 24 cards form a stock drawn one or three at a time. Its 40–45% win rate with strategic play and the large gap between casual and deliberate play make it simultaneously approachable and deeply skill-rewarding. Play Klondike Solitaire to experience the variant that defined computer solitaire for a generation.
Spider Solitaire — first documented c. early 1900s. Two decks, 104 cards, ten tableau columns, eight foundation piles — one for each suit completed in the two-deck game, corresponding to the eight legs of a spider. Spider builds same-suit descending sequences that move as units to the foundation; mixed-suit sequences can be built but cannot move as units. The three difficulty levels — 1 suit (all cards share one suit, 60–70% win rate), 2 suits (50% split, 40–50% win rate), and 4 suits (full 52-card suit distribution, 30–40% win rate) — provide a built-in progression path that made Spider the natural complexity upgrade from Klondike when Microsoft included it in Windows 98. Play Spider Solitaire to begin at the most accessible level.
FreeCell — PLATO implementation 1978, roots in Eight Off c. 1890s. All 52 cards dealt face-up into eight tableau columns, with four free cells as temporary staging spaces and four foundation piles as the win condition. The complete information — all cards visible from the first move — and the near-universal solvability (fewer than 8 of the first 32,000 numbered deals are unsolvable) make FreeCell the closest thing to a pure skill game in the mainstream solitaire family. Win rates of 80–90% with strategic play are achievable, and every loss is traceable to a specific planning error rather than concealed information or an unwinnable deal. FreeCell's strategic community — the first distributed solitaire community, formed on the PLATO network in the late 1970s — produced the solvability research that identified deal number 11982 as one of the handful of genuinely unsolvable FreeCell games.
Pyramid Solitaire — codified c. 1900s. A structurally distinct variant in which all 52 cards are built into a pyramid layout of seven overlapping rows, and the win condition is not foundation building but pair removal: cards that sum to 13 are removed together. Kings, which equal 13 alone, are removed individually. The pyramid structure — in which a card is only accessible once both cards overlapping it from the row below have been removed — produces a unique planning challenge focused on pair identification and unblocking strategy rather than sequence construction. Win rates of 40–60% with strategic play and an estimated 20–40% unwinnable deal rate make Pyramid one of the more variable mainstream variants.
Beyond the Windows-era trio and Pyramid, the patience catalogue contains dozens of historically significant variants that developed distinct playing communities before the digital era and remain widely played online today.
Yukon — origins in 19th-century Klondike variants. Yukon shares Klondike's seven-column tableau and four-suit foundation goal but replaces the stock entirely: all 52 cards are dealt face-up into the tableau from the start, with the remaining 21 cards distributed face-up across the top of columns two through seven at the deal. The defining rule is free movement: any face-up card — and all cards above it in its column — can be moved as a group regardless of whether they form a valid sequence. This free movement rule produces a fundamentally different planning environment from Klondike, where sequence integrity constrains every move. Win rates of 35–45% with strategic play make Yukon a natural next challenge for players who have mastered Klondike Turn 1.
Scorpion — variant of Spider and Yukon, codified early 20th century. Scorpion combines Yukon's free movement rule with Spider's same-suit completion goal in a seven-column layout using a single deck. Four columns receive seven cards each (with the top three face-down) and three columns receive four cards each (all face-up). The remaining three cards form a small stock drawn all at once when the player chooses. Completing a full same-suit King-to-Ace sequence removes it from the board — the win condition is clearing all four suits. Win rates of 45–55% with disciplined suit management from the first move make Scorpion one of the most strategically interesting single-deck variants in the family.
Wasp — harder variant of Scorpion. Scorpion with face-down cards in all seven starting columns rather than just the first four. The additional hidden information raises strategic complexity and lowers win rates to 40–50%. Wasp is the natural step between Scorpion and the harder multi-deck games for players who want to extend the free-movement variant challenge.
Forty Thieves — 19th-century two-deck variant, also known as Napoleon at St. Helena. Two decks, 104 cards, ten tableau columns of four cards each, eight foundation piles built by suit from Ace to King. Only the top card of each tableau column is playable at any time; tableau building requires same-suit sequential placement (unlike Klondike's alternating colour rule). A non-recyclable stock — drawn one card at a time, with only one pass permitted — makes stock management the primary long-term strategic challenge. Win rates of 20–35% with careful play and an estimated 40–60% unwinnable deal rate make Forty Thieves one of the hardest mainstream solitaire variants and the recommended long-term challenge for players who have exhausted Spider 2-Suit.
Golf Solitaire — first documented c. early 1900s. Golf deals all 35 non-stock cards face-up into five columns of seven, with the remaining 17 forming a draw pile. One card at a time is flipped from the draw pile, and any column-top card one rank higher or lower than the current card can be played onto it, building a running chain. The game is scored rather than won or lost — cards remaining at the end count as penalty points — making Golf one of the fastest patience variants to play and one of the most accessible for short sessions. Perfect rounds (all 35 cards cleared) occur 10–20% of the time; low-scoring rounds are achievable 60–70% of the time with chain-management skill.
TriPeaks Solitaire — invented by Robert Hogue, published 1990. TriPeaks is one of the few patience variants with a precisely documented modern inventor. Robert Hogue developed and published the game in 1990, the same year Microsoft Solitaire appeared — though the two were developed independently. Three overlapping peaks of face-up cards form the layout; the player builds a running chain of cards adjacent in rank (one higher or lower) from the tableau onto a discard pile, using a stock as a reserve. With wrapping enabled (Aces adjacent to Kings), win rates reach 75–85%, making TriPeaks the easiest layout-clearing variant and one of the highest-win-rate games in the family.
Baker's Game — precursor to FreeCell, codified c. 1890s. The structural ancestor of FreeCell: four free cells, eight tableau columns, four foundation piles, all 52 cards dealt face-up. The difference from FreeCell is the tableau building rule — Baker's Game requires same-suit sequential placement rather than FreeCell's alternating-colour rule. This single change makes Baker's Game meaningfully harder than FreeCell while retaining the complete-information planning environment that makes both games primarily skill-determined. Win rates of 60–70% with strategic play place Baker's Game between FreeCell and Eight Off in the free-cell variant family's difficulty progression.
Eight Off — closely related to FreeCell, codified c. 1890s–1900s. Eight tableau columns, eight free cells (rather than FreeCell's four), with four cards already occupying four of the cells at the start. Same-suit tableau building (like Baker's Game rather than FreeCell). The reduced initial free cell availability — six usable cells rather than four in practice — makes Eight Off slightly harder than FreeCell while retaining near-universal solvability. Win rates of 65–75% make it a natural intermediate step between FreeCell and Baker's Game in the free-cell family progression.
Russian Solitaire — Yukon variant. Yukon with same-suit tableau building required (rather than Yukon's any-colour alternating placement). The suit constraint significantly reduces the available move set, particularly in the opening and middle game, and produces win rates of 25–35% — considerably lower than standard Yukon and comparable to Klondike Turn 3. Russian Solitaire is the recommended challenge for players who have mastered Yukon and want the next difficulty step within the free-movement variant family.
Accordion — origins disputed, early 20th century. One of the simplest patience variants in terms of setup: all 52 cards are dealt in a single horizontal row, and cards are collapsed leftward onto the card three places to their left (or the card immediately to their left) if the two cards share either suit or rank. The game is won if the entire row collapses to a single card — a rare but genuinely achievable outcome. Win rates of 40–55% (defined as significant column reduction rather than a single-card win) make Accordion one of the more forgiving simple patience card puzzles in the family.
The patience family's breadth is its greatest strength as a game catalogue, but it creates a genuine question for players who want to develop skill systematically rather than sampling randomly. The win rate and structural type of each variant provide the most reliable guide to which games to try at which stage.
For players new to solitaire: FreeCell (80–90% win rate, complete information) and TriPeaks (75–85% win rate, intuitive chain mechanic) are the clearest recommendations. Both offer win rates high enough that strategic play produces visible improvements quickly, and both have structural properties — complete information in FreeCell, rapid resolution in TriPeaks — that make loss analysis straightforward.
For players comfortable with Klondike Turn 1: Spider 1-Suit (60–70%), Scorpion (45–55%), and Yukon (35–45%) are the most productive next steps. Each develops a distinct set of strategic habits — suit tracking in Spider, free movement planning in Scorpion and Yukon — that transfer meaningfully to harder variants within the same structural family.
For advanced players: Spider 2-Suit (40–50%), Wasp (40–50%), and Russian Solitaire (25–35%) extend the challenges of their respective families before the genuinely hard games — Spider 4-Suit (30–40%) and Forty Thieves (20–35%) — are attempted. Jumping directly to the hardest variants without the intermediate steps produces frustration rather than skill development, because the intermediate variants build the specific planning habits the hard variants require.
For players who want variety rather than progression: Golf, Pyramid, Accordion, and Baker's Game offer structurally distinct experiences that develop different planning skills from the sequence-building mainstream. Each is worth playing on its own terms rather than as a step toward anything harder.
All variants covered in this article — and dozens more from the full patience catalogue — are available free at onlinesolitairefree.com with no download, account, or installation required. The site offers the complete range from beginner-accessible games like FreeCell and TriPeaks to expert-level challenges like Spider 4-Suit, Forty Thieves, and Russian Solitaire, with settings for unlimited undo, rule variants, stock passes, and difficulty adjustments across every game. Whether you are exploring a specific variant's history or working through the difficulty progression from accessible to expert, the full catalogue is available directly from any browser on desktop or mobile.
Strategy in solitaire is variant-specific at the detailed level, but three habits improve win rates across the entire family: exhaust all tableau moves before drawing from the stock; prioritise moves that uncover face-down cards or create empty columns over moves that merely rearrange known cards; and advance all four foundation suits in parallel rather than building one suit ahead of the others. For the most famous solitaire variants specifically: FreeCell rewards destination-oriented thinking and free cell discipline above all else; Klondike rewards stock discipline and face-down uncovering priority; Spider rewards suit tracking from the first move; Pyramid rewards pair identification and careful unblocking sequencing. Each variant develops a distinct planning habit that transfers meaningfully to others in the same structural family.
FreeCell is the easiest mainstream variant to win consistently — 80–90% win rate with strategic play, approximately 99.999% of deals mathematically solvable. TriPeaks follows at 75–85%. Among the classic patience card game variants with different rules covered in this article, Golf offers the most accessible scoring experience (low-score rounds achievable 60–70% of the time) and Accordion offers the simplest rule set of any mainstream variant. For a full ranked comparison of win rates across all major solitaire variants, see our solitaire win rates guide.
No variant achieves 100% solvability. FreeCell is closest at approximately 99.999%. Klondike has an estimated 9–21% unsolvable rate; Pyramid 20–40%; Forty Thieves potentially 40–60%. The solvability rate of a variant is determined by its structural properties — complete information and flexible staging (as in FreeCell) produce near-universal solvability; restricted information with non-recyclable stocks (as in Forty Thieves) produce much higher unsolvable proportions. Understanding why classic patience variants explained by their solvability rates differ so dramatically is one of the most informative ways to understand what makes any specific variant hard or easy.