- What is the difference between draw one and draw three?
- How many cards you turn from the stock at a time. Draw one shows you every card in turn and is the forgiving game. Draw three turns three and lets you play only the top one, so the cards under it can stay out of reach for a whole pass — which makes it much harder.
- Can every game of Klondike be won?
- No. Some deals are lost from the start, because a card you need is buried under the cards that need it. Roughly one deal in three is won in practice, and draw one with unlimited passes through the stock wins far more often than draw three.
- What can go in an empty column?
- Only a king, or a run of cards with a king at its head. That is why an empty column is worth keeping until a king is ready to fill it: filled too early, it is a space you cannot get back.
- How many times can you go through the stock?
- That depends on the version you agree on. Draw one is usually played with unlimited passes. The standard draw three game allows three passes, and some players allow only one, which is the hardest way to play.
- Why is Klondike called solitaire?
- In America solitaire means any card game for one, and Klondike is the one Windows shipped under that name from 1990, so the name stuck to it. In Britain the whole family is called patience.
- How do you win at Klondike?
- By getting all 52 cards onto the four foundations, each one built from ace to king in a single suit.
- What is the best Klondike strategy?
- Turn a face-down card whenever you can, and prefer moves from the columns with the most cards still hidden. Do not rush cards to the foundations while you may still need them to build on, and do not empty a column unless you have a king ready for it.