If Spider Solitaire 1 Suit or 2 Suits has become a bit too easy, give Spider Solitaire 4 Suits a try. Typically thought of as a game for advanced to expert players, Spider Solitaire (4 Suits) uses two decks of cards (104 cards) made up of 2 sets of Hearts, 2 sets of Diamonds, 2 sets of Spades, and 2 sets of Clubs.
Objective
Your goal is to clear all the cards by building sequences within the tableau, organized by suit and arranged in descending order from King (high) to Ace (low). These sequences get transferred to the eight separate foundation piles once completed.
Spider Solitaire 4 Suits Setup
Arrange your game space into these three key parts:
- The tableau: This is the main area for play, where 54 cards are placed into 10 columns. Dealing from left to right, place 6 cards in the first 4 columns and 5 cards in the last 6 columns. Keep all cards face-down except the last card of each column, which you turn face-up. Use the tableau to build columns in descending order from King to Ace instead of building on active foundation piles.
- The stockpile: Use the remaining 50 cards for the stockpile and place them face-down at the top left of your tableau. When you’re out of moves on the tableau, deal 1 card from the stockpile face-up onto the bottom of each column. You can do this until the stockpile runs out. if it does run out and you’re out of moves, you have lost the game.
- Foundation piles: Leave spots at the top right for eight foundation piles, but you won’t use them to build your descending piles. Instead, you place completed piles in those spots once they are completed in the tableau.
You don’t use a waste pile since the stockpile cards are dealt directly onto columns in the tableau.
Spider Solitaire 4 Suits Rules
Use the following rules to understand how to play Spider Solitaire 4 Suits:
- You can only arrange face-up cards on the tableau. The only playable cards are the face-up cards on the tableau, but you can free face-down cards by removing the face-up card or column of cards from the top of it. Once a face-down card is no longer covered, you can turn it over to reveal a new playable card. When you deal from the stockpile, you will be dealt one face-up card on each column, overlapping the cards already present.
- Individual cards can be sequenced by rank, regardless of suit. You can place single cards on top of cards that are one rank higher. They don’t have to alternate colors or be of the same suit. For example, an 8 of Spades can be placed on top of a 9 of Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, or Hearts.
- Groups of cards can only be moved if they are in sequence and of the same suit. Although single cards don’t need to match suits to be sequenced, you can only move a group of cards if they are sequenced in the same suit. The entire group can be moved on top of a card that is one rank higher, regardless of suit. For example, if you have a 2 of Hearts, 3 of Hearts, and a 4 Hearts, you can move that whole set on top of a 5 of Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, or Clubs. If, however, the sequence includes a 2 of Hearts, 3 of Clubs, and 4 Hearts, you cannot move that sequence.
- Create descending sequences in the tableau. Klondike Solitaire has you building ascending sequences onto foundation piles, but in Spider, you have to create descending sequences from King to Ace of the same suit within the tableau first. Once the sequence is complete, you can place it on a foundation pile to remove it from play.
- Move any card into empty columns. You can only move kings into empty columns in Klondike Solitaire, but in Spider, you can place any card or group of cards (provided they are the same suit and sequenced) into an empty tableau space.
- Deal from the stockpile if you run out of moves on the tableau. If you can’t move any more cards on the tableau, then click the stockpile. You will have one face-up card dealt to the bottom of each column. Just be sure you have a card in every column before you do so. You can’t deal from the stockpile unless each column contains at least one card.
Strategies to Win Spider Solitaire 4 Suits
Spider Solitaire (4 Suits) is the most challenging of all Spider Solitaire games, but these strategies can give you an edge:
- Consider possible plays before you move cards. The first card you see that can be sequenced may not be the best move. Plan a few moves ahead to maximize the number of cards you can free up.
- Place higher-ranking cards or higher-ranking groups of cards in empty spaces. Use empty spaces for higher-ranking cards to build longer sequences. Face cards, like Kings, Queens, and Jacks, can build longer sequences. In other words, you can place more cards on top of them than you can lower cards, such as 3s, 4s, and 5s.
- Build same-suit sequences as much as possible. Using mixed-suit sequences helps you move cards on the tableau, but only in the short term. Since you can’t move a sequence with multiple suits to other spots in the tableau, you could block access to crucial cards. So don’t jump at the first moves you see, and try to create sequences with the same suit as often as you can so that you leave yourself more movement options in the tableau.
- Reveal to as many face-down cards as possible. Since you can only play face-up cards, prioritize freeing up face-down cards. By seeing what’s hidden, you get a better idea of what might still be in the stockpile or face-down in other columns. Additionally, you might turn up useful cards to help you make moves.
- Use the stockpile sparingly. The stockpile stacks a face-up card onto each column, which can block your access to sequences you’ve already created. Of course, you’ll need to use the stockpile at some point, but use it only when you have to so as to avoid layering too many unsequenced face-up cards at the bottom of your columns.
- Use the buttons hint and undo button to help your gameplay. You can use the undo button to reverse a move or several moves until you get back to a certain point, and if you’re stuck and aren’t sure what to move, use the hint button to have a move highlighted for you.
How Difficult is Spider Solitaire (4 Suits)?
Spider Solitaire (4 Suits) is considered hard in difficulty. When looking at a sample of 510,885 games played, only 31,055 were won, making the win rate 6.08%. This makes Spider Solitaire 4 Suits more challenging than Spider Solitaire 2 Suits which, has a win rate of 16.58%, and Spider Solitaire 1 Suit, which has a win rate of 52.29%.
Other Games You’ll Enjoy like FreeCell and Pyramid
If you enjoy Spider Solitaire, check out all our Spider Solitaire games and other intermediate to difficult solitaire variations:
- Scorpion Solitaire- Similar to Spider Solitaire, you must complete sorted sequences to move them to the foundation pile.
- Forty Thieves Solitaire- This variation also uses 104 cards and has eight foundation piles. Clear the tableau to win.
- Josephine- A slightly easier variation than Forty Thieves, you clear a tableau to win but can move columns of cards instead of just single ones, like in Forty Thieves.
- FreeCell - Use 4 open cells where you can place any card as you organize a tableau of face-up cards.
- Pyramid Solitaire - Cards are organized in a pyramid shape, and you remove cards by pairing ones that add to 13.
- TriPeaks - Clear cards in a tableau shaped as three triangles by matching cards that are one rank higher or lower than waste pile cards.
- Golf Solitaire - Clear cards from a face-up tableau by matching ones that are one rank higher or lower than the waste pile card.
