How to play Spider
Spider is played with two packs, 104 cards. You win by building eight complete runs, each in one suit from king down to ace. A finished run leaves the table by itself, and when all eight are gone the game is won.
The layout
Fifty-four cards are dealt into ten columns, six cards in the first four and five in the rest. Only the top card of each column is face up. The other 50 cards wait in the stock at the top left, enough for five more rows of ten.
Moving cards
- A card can go on any card one rank higher, whatever the suits: a 6 goes on any 7.
- You can move several cards together only when they are a run in one suit, such as the 6, 5 and 4 of spades.
- Any card or run can go into an empty column.
- When a face-down card is uncovered it turns over.
- When a column ends in a full run from king to ace in one suit, the run is taken off the table.
Tap a card to send it to the best place it fits, or drag it there yourself. A tapped card goes onto its own suit when it can.
Dealing a new row
Tap the stock to deal one more card onto every column. You can do this five times. Every column must have at least one card in it first, so fill any empty column before you deal. The one exception is when fewer than ten cards are left on the table.
One, two or four suits
The number of suits sets how hard the game is. With one suit every card is a spade, so every run you build can be moved. With two suits, spades and hearts, a run of mixed suits is stuck until you sort it out. Four suits is the full game and is hard to win. Changing the setting takes effect on your next deal.
Scoring
| Event | Points |
|---|---|
| Start of the deal | 500 |
| Each move, and each row dealt | −1 |
| Each run completed | +100 |
Undoing a move puts the score back as it was.
Tips for winning more often
- Build in one suit whenever you have the choice. A run of mixed suits cannot be moved in one go.
- Turn over face-down cards early, starting with the shortest piles of them.
- Empty a column as soon as you can. A space lets you take a mixed run apart and put it back in order.
- Do not deal a new row while there are still useful moves on the table. Ten new cards bury what you have built.
- Before you deal, tidy up: move cards onto their own suit and uncover what you can.
- Kings can only move into an empty column, so think before you fill a space with anything else.
Can every deal be won?
No. Spider deals here are a plain shuffle, and some cannot be won. Almost every one-suit deal can be won with care. Two suits is a good deal harder, and four suits is hard to win at all. If a game is stuck, use Undo to try another line, or start a new deal.