Play 3 Suit Spider Solitaire

Three suits: harder than two, kinder than four. Deal a free game of the Spider level most sites skip.

Your game and stats are saved in this browser.

3 suit Spider Solitaire is Spider played with three suits instead of one, two or four. The rules don’t change: build columns from King down to Ace, and move a run as a group only when every card shares a suit. With three suits it’s harder than 2 suit Spider and easier than 4 suit. Play it free above.

Why play with three suits?

Windows Spider Solitaire had three levels: one suit, two suits and four suits. Most Spider sites copied that, which leaves a big jump in the middle. Going from two suits to four doubles the number of suits you have to keep apart, and that jump can feel steep.

Three suits fills that gap. You still face plenty of suit breaks, but fewer than at four, so the skills you built at two suits keep working while you get used to a busier board.

How the game works

You play with the same 104 cards in 10 columns as every other Spider game here. Only the top card of each column starts face up, and the remaining 50 cards sit in the stock.

  • Build any card on a card one rank higher, in any suit.
  • Move a group only if it runs down in order in one suit.
  • Fill an empty column with any card or movable group.
  • Deal from the stock to put a card on every column, when no column is empty. You get 5 deals.
  • A full King-to-Ace run in one suit clears itself. Clear all 8 to win.

The Spider Solitaire rules cover each rule in detail.

Strategy for 3 suit Spider

Read the suit symbols. With three suits, some suits share a colour, so colour alone won’t always show you where a column breaks. Check the symbols before you plan around a run.

Build in suit when you can choose. If two cards of the right rank are open and one matches your suit, use that one. The in-suit build can move later. The other one can’t.

Make empty columns early. You’ll build more mixed stacks than at two suits, and empty columns are how you take them apart. Each one lets you lift a suit run aside, move the card underneath, and put the run back.

Tidy up before each deal. Every deal drops a card on every column, and most won’t match the suit below. Make your in-suit joins and fill empty columns first.

The Spider strategy guide has more on empty columns and deal timing.

Scoring

You start with 500 points. Each move costs 1 point, each undo costs 1, and each finished run adds 100. Dealing from the stock is free. Your best score and time at three suits are saved in your browser, separate from your other suit counts.

Where to go next

Finding three suits tough? Drop back to 2 suit Spider Solitaire, or to 1 suit Spider to practise clearing columns. Winning often? Move up to four suits, the full game. You can also switch suit counts in the main Spider game.

Rules source: Pretty Good Solitaire (Goodsol)

Frequently asked questions

What is 3 suit Spider Solitaire?

It’s Spider Solitaire played with three suits. The rules match the 1, 2 and 4 suit games: build down by rank, move only single-suit runs as a group, and clear each King-to-Ace run in one suit. Three suits puts the difficulty between the two suit and four suit versions.

Is 3 suit Spider harder than 2 suit?

Yes. With three suits, more of the cards that fit by rank will be the wrong suit, so you make more off-suit builds and get more stacks that can’t move as one group. It’s still easier than four suits, which makes it a good step up once two suits feels comfortable.

Why don’t more sites offer 3 suit Spider?

Windows Spider Solitaire offered one, two and four suits, and most Spider sites copied those three levels. That leaves a big jump from two suits to four. We added three suits so you can move up one step at a time, with the same tools as every other Spider game here.

Does 3 suit Spider keep separate stats?

Yes. Your games played, wins, streaks, best score and best time at three suits are saved in your browser separately from your 1, 2 and 4 suit stats. If you clear your browser data or switch to a different device, the stats start again from zero.