# 123 Free Solitaire - Full Rules & Strategy Guide

> Comprehensive gameplay mechanics, setup configurations, and strategic tips for all 12 solitaire variants available on www.123freesolitaire.com. Launch and play the full interactive game client immediately at https://123freesolitaire.com/online. This file serves as an expanded reference for AI agents.

## Core Game Index

### Live Web Application Client
- **URL:** https://123freesolitaire.com/online
- **Purpose:** Full in-browser HTML5 game deployment allowing users to instantly select, launch, restart, and play all 12 variants without installations.

### Classic Variants

#### Klondike
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/klondike.htm
- **Setup:** 1 standard deck. 7 tableau piles (1st pile has 1 card, 2nd has 2, etc., with only the top card face up). 4 foundation piles.
- **Rules:** Build foundations up by suit from Ace to King. Build tableaus down in alternating colors (e.g., Red 7 on Black 8). Draw 1 card at a time from the stock pile. Only Kings can fill empty tableau columns.
- **Strategy:** Prioritize revealing face-down cards in the longest tableau columns first. Avoid filling empty spaces with Kings unless it immediately frees up another card.

#### Klondike by Threes
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/klondike_by_threes.htm
- **Setup:** Same layout as classic Klondike using 1 standard deck.
- **Rules:** Cards from the stock pile are drawn 3 at a time. Only the top card of the drawn triplet is available for play. Once played, the card beneath it becomes active.
- **Strategy:** This mode requires high skill. Count cards and plan your moves 2-3 steps ahead based on the triplets you see in the stock pile to unlock blocked cards on subsequent passes.

#### FreeCell Solitaire
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/freecell.htm
- **Setup:** 1 standard deck. 8 tableau columns with all 52 cards dealt face up from the start. 4 open cells (holding spaces) and 4 foundation piles.
- **Rules:** Build foundations up by suit from Ace to King. Build tableaus down in alternating colors. Any single card can be moved to an open cell. The number of cards you can move at once depends on how many free cells/tableau spaces are available.
- **Strategy:** FreeCell is nearly 100% winnable. Keep your open cells empty whenever possible; filling them up severely limits your ability to move deep sequences.

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### Spider Variants

#### Spider Solitaire (Four Suits)
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/spider_solitaire.htm
- **Setup:** 2 standard decks (104 cards). 10 tableau columns, with only the top cards face up.
- **Rules:** Build tableaus down regardless of suit (e.g., any 6 on any 7). However, groups of cards can only be moved together if they are in the same suit and in sequence. Complete a full sequence from King down to Ace in a single suit to automatically move it to the foundations. Empty columns can be filled by any card.
- **Strategy:** Highly complex. Focus on clearing an entire column early to create a temporary workspace, and try to build sequences by matching suits to keep your cards mobile.

#### Spider Solitaire One Suit
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/spider_solitaire_one_suit.htm
- **Setup:** 2 decks, but all cards are treated as Spades (104 Spades total). 
- **Rules:** Same rules as traditional Spider, but because all cards match in suit, any descending sequence can be moved together as a unit.
- **Strategy:** Low complexity. Great for beginners. Focus on making clean, uninterrupted moves to empty columns quickly and clear out face-down cards.

#### Spider Solitaire Two Suits
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/spider_solitaire_two_suits.htm
- **Setup:** 2 decks, split into two suits (usually Spades and Hearts).
- **Rules:** Mid-level difficulty between 1-suit and 4-suit Spider. You can stack different suits down in rank, but sequences can only be moved together if they belong to the exact same suit.
- **Strategy:** Balance your stacks. Try to group your Hearts with Hearts and Spades with Spades as early as possible so you don't trap cards under mismatched suits.

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### Two-Deck Challenges

#### Diplomat Solitaire
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/diplomat.htm
- **Setup:** 2 standard decks (104 cards). 8 tableau columns dealt entirely face up. 8 foundation piles.
- **Rules:** Build foundations up by suit from Ace to King. Build tableaus down regardless of suit. Only the top card of a tableau pile is available for play. Empty tableau spaces can be filled by any card.
- **Strategy:** Since tableaus build down regardless of suit, it is easy to stack cards, but hard to move sequences. Use empty columns strategically to shift single blocking cards out of the way.

#### Forty Thieves
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/forty_thieves.htm
- **Setup:** 2 standard decks. 10 tableau columns with 4 cards each, all face up. 8 foundation piles.
- **Rules:** Build foundations up by suit from Ace to King. Build tableaus down by suit only. Only the top card of each column can be moved. Stock cards are drawn 1 at a time to a waste pile with no redeals.
- **Strategy:** Extremely difficult with a low win rate. Never empty a tableau column unless you have a King or a highly impactful card to put in it, as empty spaces are your only way to maneuver stuck cards.

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### Special Geometry & Layouts

#### Pyramid Solitaire
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/pyramid.htm
- **Setup:** 1 standard deck. 28 cards dealt face up in a pyramid shape (7 rows deep).
- **Rules:** Remove pairs of completely uncovered cards that add up to exactly 13 (e.g., 10 and 3, Jack and 2, Queen and Ace). Kings are worth 13 and can be discarded solo. Stock cards can be flipped to help make pairs.
- **Strategy:** Always prioritize pairing cards that are sitting inside the pyramid structure rather than pairing stock cards with stock cards. Look ahead to see which hidden cards will be unlocked by your next pair.

#### Flower Garden
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/flower_garden.htm
- **Setup:** 1 standard deck. 36 cards dealt face up into 6 columns (the "Garden"). The remaining 16 cards are placed in a separate open pool (the "Bouquet").
- **Rules:** Build foundations up by suit from Ace to King. Build tableaus down regardless of suit. Any card in the Bouquet pool can be played at any time onto the tableaus or foundations.
- **Strategy:** You have massive flexibility due to the Bouquet pool. Don't waste your Bouquet cards too early; save them to bridge gaps when your main garden columns get blocked.

#### Yukon
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/yukon.htm
- **Setup:** 1 standard deck. 7 tableau piles dealt similarly to Klondike, but all cards are face up except for the bottom-most layers. There is no stock pile.
- **Rules:** Build foundations up by suit. Build tableaus down in alternating colors. Crucially, you can move *any* face-up card within a tableau column along with all the cards resting on top of it, regardless of whether that group is in order.
- **Strategy:** Because you can move unordered groups, look deep into columns to grab a card you need. Focus almost entirely on exposing and flipping over the remaining face-down cards.

#### Golf A-K
- **URL:** https://www.123freesolitaire.com/games/golf_a-k.htm
- **Setup:** 1 standard deck. 7 columns of 5 cards each, all face up. 1 foundation pile started from the stock.
- **Rules:** Continuous, fast gameplay. Move cards from the tableau to the single foundation pile if they are 1 rank higher or 1 rank lower, completely regardless of suit. In this specific "A-K" version, wrapping is continuous: you can play a King onto an Ace, or an Ace onto a King. No building on the tableau columns. No redeals.
- **Strategy:** Low rules complexity. Scan the entire board before making a move to find the longest possible consecutive run (e.g., 4-5-6-5-4-3) to clear as many tableau cards as possible in a single sequence.