Spider Solitaire 4 Suits — Free Online, Hardest Mode
Four-suit Spider is the classic difficulty: two decks across ten tableau columns, every suit in play, and only same-suit King-to-Ace sequences auto-clear to a foundation. Most sessions run 20 to 40 minutes; skilled play is generally accepted to win between 5% and 15% of 4-suit deals, well below the 1-suit mode's 90%-plus. Unlimited undo, a daily challenge, and a new Winnable (4 Suits) option that guarantees a solvable shuffle make it the version most experienced Spider players settle on. Free in your browser, no sign-up.
Quick Start: Play in 30 Seconds
- Goal: Build eight complete King-to-Ace sequences in the same suit. Each completed same-suit run auto-lifts to a foundation.
- Build down on the tableau: any descending move is legal regardless of suit (red 9 on black 10 is fine). Only same-suit descending runs move as a group.
- Empty columns: any card or valid descending sequence can fill them.
- Stock: Click to deal one card to every column. Five deals total, then the stock is empty.
- Win condition: all eight foundations filled (or eight same-suit sequences cleared) — game complete.
Click Play Spider 4 Suits and you're playing. Drag or tap. Unlimited undo means you can experiment without losing your place.
Why 4-Suit Spider Is the Hard Version
The difficulty between 1-suit, 2-suit, and 4-suit Spider isn't graded — it's a step function. Here's what changes at each level.
| Mode | Suits in play | Multi-card moves require | Skilled win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Suit | 1 (usually spades) | Any descending sequence — same-suit by definition | ~85–90% |
| 2 Suits | 2 (spades + hearts) | Same-suit descending sequence | ~20–40% |
| 4 Suits | All four | Same-suit descending sequence | ~5–15% |
In 1-suit Spider, every descending sequence you build can move as a group — there's only one suit, so suit-matching is automatic. In 4-suit, a perfectly-ordered J-10-9-8 of mixed suits moves one card at a time. That single rule shift is responsible for almost all of the difficulty jump. You spend most of a 4-suit game protecting the few same-suit runs you've assembled while moving everything else around them.
Winnable Mode — Stop Losing to Unsolvable Deals
4-suit Spider has the lowest practical win rate of any common solitaire, and some of the deals you lose are deals you couldn't have won — random 4-suit shuffles include a meaningful fraction with no solution. The new-game dropdown now has a Winnable (4 Suits) option that draws from a pool of seeds already verified by real players, so the deal you face is guaranteed to have a path home. Lose because of a wrong move; never because the deal was hopeless.
- Where the seeds come from: the same yearly table that powers the daily-deal rotation, drawn from real wins by TrySolitaire players. Every entry has been solved end-to-end at least once.
- Random vs. winnable: the plain 4 Suits button shuffles freely. The Winnable (4 Suits) button always returns a seed from the verified pool.
- It does not make the game easy: these are still 4-suit deals. The lift from "all deals" to "winnable deals only" raises your effective ceiling but you still need same-suit-run discipline to find the solution.
- Best for practice sessions: when you want to learn from your losses, knowing the deal was solvable is more useful than wondering whether you were doomed from move one. Use winnable mode for drills; use the random shuffle when you want to roll the dice.
- Daily Deal is already winnable: if you've been playing the Daily (4 Suits) challenge, you've been on the verified pool all along — winnable mode just lets you draw fresh seeds from it whenever you want.
Direct link: play a winnable 4-suit deal.
What's the Best 4-Suit Spider Strategy?
Four tactical points specific to playing all four suits. The general Spider rules (Aces aren't urgent; complete sequences auto-lift; only same-suit runs move as a group) still apply.
Protect every same-suit run you start
A clean same-suit J-10-9-8-7 is worth more than four random card moves. Once you have a fragment, refuse to break it unless the alternative is losing. The auto-lift to the foundation only fires on same-suit completions.
Empty columns are the most valuable resource in the game
An empty column lets you park a same-suit sequence while you re-sort the cards above it. In 4-suit Spider, an empty column often means the difference between winning and stalling. Build toward emptying columns deliberately — even if it means a longer game.
Don't deal from the stock unless you have to
Dealing adds ten new cards across all columns, which often breaks runs you've carefully assembled. Cycle your tableau moves first. Hold the stock as a reset button for when the position is genuinely locked.
Track which suits you've made progress on
With eight foundations and four suits, you're building two of each. If you've cleared one spades run, the second spades run becomes much easier because you've removed thirteen specific cards from the tableau. Pick a suit early and finish it before scattering attention.
How Often Can You Win 4-Suit Spider?
Spider has no peer-reviewed solvability study like Yan, Diaconis, Rusmevichientong and Van Roy (2005) for Klondike, so the exact theoretical figure is unknown. The number generally accepted in published solver-assisted play data:
- Skilled players, 4-suit: 5–15% practical win rate.
- Average players, 4-suit: closer to 1–5%.
- For reference, 1-suit: ~85–90% skilled. 2-suit: ~20–40% skilled.
If you've been winning fewer than 1 in 10 games of 4-suit Spider, that's roughly the expected rate. You're playing the hardest practical version of solitaire that gets regular play. Move down to 2-suit for a session if you want a faster win rhythm.
The Three Spider Difficulty Levels
The same engine runs all three. Switch from the new-game menu.
- Spider Solitaire — 2 Suits — the intermediate version. Spades and hearts only. Most of the same-suit-run skill from 4-suit but with much higher win rates (~20–40% skilled). Best balance of challenge and finish-able sessions.
- Spider Solitaire — 1 Suit — the easy version. All spades. Practically every deal is winnable with patience. Useful for learning the rhythm of Spider before adding suit constraints. Available via the difficulty menu on the main Spider page.
- Spider Solitaire — All Modes — the difficulty-selector hub if you're not sure which to start with.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Spider Solitaire 4 Suits free to play?
Yes. Spider Solitaire 4 Suits on TrySolitaire is free, with no download or sign-up. The game runs in your browser and can be installed as an app on any device, after which it works without an internet connection.
How hard is 4-suit Spider Solitaire compared to 1-suit and 2-suit?
Much harder. With one suit, any descending sequence is a valid completion candidate — practical win rates exceed 90% for skilled players. With two suits, you have to keep two parallel sequences clean while moving cards. With four suits, every move that breaks a same-suit sequence is essentially permanent until a new King opens elsewhere. Skilled win rates drop to roughly 5–15%; there's no peer-reviewed solver result for full 4-suit Spider like there is for Klondike (Yan et al., 2005), so the underlying theoretical figure is unknown.
What's the goal in 4-suit Spider?
Build eight complete King-to-Ace sequences, each in the same suit. When a same-suit King-to-Ace sequence is complete, it auto-lifts off the board to a foundation. Clearing all eight wins the game. You can move cards in any descending order across suits (a black 9 onto a red 10) but only same-suit consecutive runs auto-complete.
Can you move multi-card sequences in 4-suit Spider?
Yes, but only if the sequence is already same-suit and descending. A black 9-8-7 of spades moves as a group; a black 9 of spades with a black 8 of clubs does not. This restriction is what makes 4-suit so much harder than 1-suit — most of your accidentally-built sequences won't move as a unit.
When can I deal from the stock?
Click the stock to deal one card to every column. Five deals total — once the stock empties, no more. You cannot deal if any column is empty; fill empty columns first. This rule prevents you from stockpiling empty columns as wildcards.
Should I start with 1-suit before trying 4-suit?
Probably yes if you're new to Spider. 1-suit teaches the rhythm of sequence-building and stock management without the suit-tracking burden. Two-suit adds the suit constraint with one type of decision to make per move. 4-suit assumes you already see the patterns and forces you to plan three moves ahead. Most experienced players still warm up with a 2-suit or 1-suit game before committing 30 minutes to a 4-suit session.
What does the "Winnable (4 Suits)" option do?
It deals a shuffle pulled from a pool of seeds already verified to be solvable. Some random 4-suit deals genuinely have no solution; the winnable option skips those by drawing only from seeds that real players have already cleared. The game itself isn't easier — same 5–15% skilled win rate on the moves themselves — but every loss is on you rather than on a hopeless deal. Pick the regular 4 Suits button when you want the full random pool; pick Winnable (4 Suits) for practice and drills.
Ready to Play?
Free, in your browser, no sign-up. Four suits, ten columns, eight foundations to fill. The hardest version of Spider that still gets regular play.
Play Spider 4 Suits Free Play a Winnable Deal