Spider
Spider spreads two packs over ten columns. Build runs of one suit from King to Ace and each complete run leaves the table. Start with one suit and move up to two and four as you get the feel of it.
How to play Spider
Spider uses two packs, 104 cards. Fifty-four are dealt into ten columns: six cards in each of the first four columns and five in the other six, with only the top card of each column face up. The other 50 cards wait in the stock, enough for five more deals of ten.
The suits depend on the variant: one suit (all spades), two suits (spades and hearts) or all four suits.
- In the columns, build down regardless of suit: any 6 on any 7.
- A run moves as a unit only if all its cards are of one suit.
- When a column holds a complete run from King down to Ace of one suit, it is taken off the table.
- Any card or same-suit run may go into an empty column.
- Tap the stock to deal one card onto every column. You may not deal while a column is empty.
- Take off all eight runs to win.
Strategy and tips
Build in suit whenever you can
A 6 of hearts on a 7 of spades is legal, but the pair will never move together again. When you have a choice, put a card on the same suit, even if the other move looks handier.
Empty columns are your workshop
An empty column lets you take a mixed column apart and sort it. Do not drop a lone card into it unless that card is in the way of something important.
Do not deal too early
Each deal drops a card on every column and covers your work. Before you tap the stock, make every useful move, especially those that turn over hidden cards.
Uncover before you tidy
Forty-four cards start face down. Turning them over is worth more than neat runs in the early game.
Choose the right variant
One suit is a gentle introduction where most deals can be won. Two suits asks for real planning. Four suits is a long, demanding game where many deals are lost.
Questions and answers
Which Spider variant should I start with?
One suit. Every card can join every run, so you learn the shape of the game without suit trouble. Move to two suits when you win most one-suit games.
Can Spider be won with four suits?
Some deals, with patience and plenty of undo. Our solver could not win four-suit deals within its search budget, so the four-suit deals in our library are not checked, and we say so on each. The one-suit and two-suit deals there are all won by the solver: 14 of 21 one-suit and 12 of 39 two-suit seeds it tried.
Why can't I deal from the stock?
One of your columns is empty. Spider requires a card in every column before the next deal; move any card into the gap first.
Where do completed runs go?
A complete King-to-Ace run of one suit leaves its column by itself and goes to the row at the top of the table.
Numbered deals
Spider (1 suit)
All Spider (1 suit) deals (14) →
Spider (2 suits)
All Spider (2 suits) deals (12) →
