How to Play Windows XP Spider Solitaire
A patience game as unpredictable as it is addictive. It is hard to believe that Spider Solitaire, a game you rarely manage to win, became one of the most beloved online card games of all time. Here on SolitaireSite.com, you can play the popular Windows XP version of Spider Solitaire, complete with a score counter and the famous card animation when you successfully complete a game.
To make sure there is no confusion about which game you are launching, Spider Solitaire XP 1.0 greets you with the black-and-white hallmark of every Windows fan: a DOS-style file path screen. That disappears quickly, giving way to the familiar game interface and a pop-up window asking you to choose a difficulty level with one, two, or four card suits.
When the cards look sharp enough to cut and spiders scurry across the tableau, you know you are in the right place. Spider Solitaire XP 1.0 is a standard variant played with the 104 cards of a double French deck. The layout shows ten columns of five or six cards each. Only the last card dealt in each column is face up. In the bottom right corner, five remaining piles of ten cards each sit stacked face down.
In the centre you can see your current score, which always starts at 500, along with the number of moves made so far. Your score decreases with every move. Bonus points are earned by completing full same-suit sequences from King down to Ace.
Objective and Rules
As with most patience games, Spider Solitaire is about rearranging the layout first into helper sequences, then into complete same-suit runs. Unlike basic Klondike, Spider Solitaire has no separate foundation piles. Everything happens in the tableau: building descending sequences and sorting cards into complete runs from King down to Ace in a single suit. The following rules apply:
- Cards are sorted into descending sequences. There is no colour requirement for helper rows: a Nine of Hearts can be placed on any red or black Ten.
- Groups of cards can only be moved if all cards share the same suit and form an unbroken descending sequence.
- Every face-down card you free is automatically turned over.
- You can place any face-up card or moveable group onto an empty column.
- If no moves are possible, deal new cards by clicking the remaining piles. At least one card must be in every column before you can do this.
- Once you complete a full unbroken sequence of 13 cards from King to Ace in a single suit, it is removed from the game.
Spider Solitaire rarely comes together. But if you manage to sort and clear all the cards, you are rewarded with the famous XP finale, where the cards cascade across the screen in celebration.
More Solitaire Variants and Other Games
On SolitaireSite.com you will find Spider Solitaire, Freecell and Solitaire in several versions, including nostalgic Windows-style experiences and a modern version with an optional time limit. You can also challenge yourself with other games: the quiet focus of Sudoku, the tension of Minesweeper and Battleship, or classic two-player board games like Nine Men's Morris, Checkers and Chess. For a quick action break, Bubble Shooter is always ready. Browse the full menu and you will find plenty more.