Play Spider Solitaire 4 Suits Online for Free
Four suits is Spider Solitaire at full strength - the expert level that shipped with Windows and the version most players mean when they say Spider. Two full decks, 104 cards, ten columns, and eight King-to-Ace runs to build. The rules never change: what changes is that only one card in four is the right suit for the run you are building, so every descent you stack across suits is a debt you will pay for later.
How to Play Spider Solitaire 4 Suits
- Ten columns are dealt as in every Spider variant: four columns of six cards, six of five, top card face up.
- All 104 cards are in play - two decks, 26 cards of each suit, 50 left in the stock.
- Build the tableau down in rank regardless of suit, exactly like 1-suit and 2-suit Spider.
- Only same-suit sequences move as a group. A run that mixes suits cannot be picked up together.
- A run leaves the board only when one column holds a complete same-suit King-to-Ace sequence.
- Deal from the stock in waves of ten - but every column needs at least one card first.
- Empty columns accept any card or any same-suit run. Clear eight runs to win.
Spider Solitaire 4 Suits Rules
Objective
Complete eight King-to-Ace runs, each entirely within a single suit - two runs of each of the four suits.
Setup
Two standard 52-card decks (104 cards), all four suits. Ten columns: four of 6 cards, six of 5, only the top card of each column face up. The remaining 50 cards form the stock.
Tableau
Cards build downwards by rank regardless of suit, but only a same-suit descending run can be moved as a group. With four suits in play, three out of four cards break the run you are trying to keep clean.
Stock
Five stock deals of ten cards each. Dealing is blocked while any column is empty.
Completed Runs
A run clears only when all thirteen cards share one suit. Mixed-suit King-to-Ace stacks never clear and have to be taken apart one card at a time, which is why empty columns decide most expert games.
Scoring
Same classic system: start at 500, minus 1 point per move, plus 100 per completed run.
Strategy
Four suits is the expert level of Spider and the hardest game on this site. The deal is identical to the easier versions - 104 cards, ten columns, five waves of ten - but the deck holds 26 cards of each suit, so a descending card you place has only a one-in-four chance of being the suit you can actually build on. Treat every mixed-suit stack as scaffolding: it is useful for uncovering cards, but it will never move as a group and never clear, so plan to take it apart again. Empty columns matter more here than anywhere else, because they are the only place to park a run while you rebuild another one by suit. Work the columns with buried cards first, and accept that you are playing for completed runs, not for a finished game.
Common Mistakes
The defining mistake is mistaking a legal move for progress. Dropping a red six onto a black seven is allowed, and in four suits it is usually a trap: the run cannot move as a group, cannot clear, and buries the card underneath. Players also deal waves hoping for rescue, which covers ten more cards and rarely helps when only a quarter of the deck is usable. And people give up on good positions: skilled players win about 5-15% of four-suit deals, so clearing two or three of the eight runs is a genuine result, and undo is there to let you test whether a run can be rebuilt by suit before you abandon it.
Winning
All eight same-suit runs completed and cleared from the board.
Tips & Strategy
- Commit to one suit at a time. Spreading effort across four suits is the fastest way to a board you cannot untangle.
- Empty columns are the only workspace you have for splitting mixed runs - build one before your first stock deal and protect it.
- Prefer the move that uncovers a face-down card. In 4-suit Spider, buried cards are what eventually end the game.
- Never deal a new wave while a useful tableau move remains: ten new cards bury whatever you just built.
- Track the suits you are short of. If three Kings of one suit are already buried deep, finish a different suit first.
- Accept the odds. Winning one deal in ten is normal at this level, and losing does not mean you played it badly.
- In four suits a mixed stack is scaffolding - build it to uncover cards, then take it apart again rather than leaving it as dead weight.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Spider Solitaire 4 suits rules?
Identical to 1-suit and 2-suit Spider: build columns down by rank regardless of suit, move only same-suit runs as a group, and clear a column the moment it holds a complete King-to-Ace run of one suit. Two decks, 104 cards, ten columns, five stock deals of ten. The only difference is the suit mix - all four suits instead of one or two.
Is Spider Solitaire played with 4 decks?
No - classic Spider Solitaire is always played with two decks (104 cards), whatever the difficulty level. The "4" in 4-suit Spider refers to all four suits being in play, not to four decks, so a search for 4 deck Spider Solitaire lands on the same classic game: 104 cards, ten columns, eight runs. If two decks sound like too many, the one-deck relative is called Spiderette.
How to win spider solitaire 4 suits?
Winning 4 suit Spider Solitaire is an exercise in discipline: finish one suit before starting another, keep at least one empty column as workspace, exhaust every tableau move before dealing a new wave, and never stack a mixed-suit descent you cannot afford to unwind. Even so, skilled players win only about 5-15% of deals - the level is genuinely brutal.
Is 4 suits the hardest Spider Solitaire?
Yes. Four suits is the expert setting - the one Microsoft shipped as the hardest Spider level. Every rule is the same as the easier versions, but only one card in four suits the run you are building, so suit collisions are constant.
What is a good spider solitaire strategy 4 suit players actually use?
Suit focus. Pick the suit with the most accessible cards and drive it to completion before touching the others, using empty columns to park the cards that get in the way. The second habit is patience with the stock: dealing early adds ten cards on top of the structures you just built.
How many cards and how many runs are in a 4 suits game?
104 cards from two decks, 26 of each suit, and eight King-to-Ace runs to complete - two per suit. The opening deal puts 54 cards on the table and leaves 50 in the stock.
Can I play spider solitaire free online 4 suits with no download?
Yes. Spider Solitaire 4 suits online runs straight in the browser on desktop and mobile - no download, no sign-up, and a fresh shuffle every time you press New game.
Is this the same as the Windows expert Spider?
It is the same game: two decks, all four suits, ten columns, waves of ten from the stock. The difference is the setting - 4-suit Spider on this site needs no install and keeps Undo available for every move.
Why can't I move a run of 13 mixed suits off the board?
Because a run only clears when all thirteen cards share one suit. A King-to-Ace column that mixes spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds is legal to build but can never leave - you have to strip it back into same-suit pieces, which is exactly what the empty columns are for.
Similar Solitaire Games
