Often used to refer to a number of individually played card games such as Klondike (patience), Solitaire can also indicate a variation of different board games, computerized games, and concentration type games. Of the different types of Solitaire game variations, most have evolved with variables of their own.
One of the most frequently referred to games of Solitaire is Klondike, also known as Patience. This game uses one deck of cards which are dealt into seven stacks. The first stack on the left contains one face up card. The second row contains one card up and one card down. This repeats throughout the stacks, and left-over cards are placed in the stock stack. Playing cards in reverse numerical order and with opposite colors. Aces make up four additional stacks, and each is played upon with cards of the same suit in numerical order. Other versions include drawing one, two, or three cards at a time from the stock.
A more advanced selection is Spider Solitaire. Spider uses two decks of cards in place of one, and ten piles of cards are stacked. The first four stacks contain five cards facing down and one top card facing up per stack. The six stacks left contain four cards that are face down, and again, one card per pile that faces up. Any remaining cards are place in stock. Cards are played on each other according to numerical order and the suit. If cards are played off-suit, any cards beneath that can not be moved as a group. When all possible moves are made, ten cards are drawn from the stock pile, and placed over the ten original rows. When a row contains thirteen cards of a suit in numerical order, the cards are taken out of the game. The game is over when all cards have been removed or there are no more plays.
Simpler variations to Spider Solitaire are offered as well. These versions alter the regulations related to suit requirements. The one and two suit variations use one or two suits respectively. Increasing in difficulty, Spiderette and Black Widow are other types of Solitaire game variants.
Using patterned tiles in place of cards, Mahjong Solitaire is another variant. Pyramid uses cards, but requires that they be placed in the for of a triangle. Basic math is also used to play this game. Similar to Pyramid is Tripeaks. Tripeaks also requires card placement in the shape of a triangle, but instead of one peak, it has three. A waste pile is created by any cards left over. One card is drawn from the pile, and any exposed cards wit a value of one higher or one lower are taken from the pyramid, exposing the cards beneath. This continues until there are no plays left or all cards have been removed.
Another version of Solitaire is Freecell. Like most other types of Solitaire game choices, Freecell uses one deck of cards. All of the cards are placed into eight columns. The cards are placed face-up and staggered so that all of the cards can be seen. Aces create their own stacks, and cards are added to these new stacks in order and according to the correct suit until all cards have been played.
Peg Solitaire is another version of Solitaire. This game is not played with cards but instead uses pegs or marbles and a wood block. The pegs/marbles are placed into holes that have been drilled into the wood, leaving one hole open. Pegs are able to move over singular pegs jumping them until all pegs except one have been removed from the block.
There are many more variations to the types of Solitaire game versions. Some include the use of preloaded software for the computer, computer disks, downloads, online play, and actual card game variants. The list continues to grow as more variables are applied. Technology has added many new twists to the game as well, and the popularity continues to grow.
Spider Solitaire is just of the many solitaire games available to play online for free.