How to play Spiderette

Spiderette is Spider made small. Instead of two decks and ten columns, it uses one deck dealt in the familiar Klondike triangle of seven columns. The aim is the same as in Spider: arrange the cards into complete runs from King down to Ace in a single suit. Each finished run leaves the table, and when all four are gone, you have won.

With fewer cards and fewer columns, there is less room to manoeuvre than in Spider, and every face-down card matters. You can stack any card on one a rank higher, but only runs of one suit move together, so mixing suits gets you moving now and tangles you later. Choose one, two or four suits to set the difficulty.

How to play on skill.games

When you open the game, the settings popup appears. Choose a level - 1 suit, 2 suits or 4 suits - check your record at that level and press PLAY. The cards fly out onto the table and the game begins.

• Moving cards: tap a face-up card and it goes onto a card one rank higher, preferring one of the same suit; if nothing fits, it goes into an empty column. Tapping a card in the middle of a column moves the run on top of it too, as long as that run is in order and in one suit.
• Dragging: drag a card, or a run of one suit, and drop it where you want it. A move that isn't allowed is refused: the cards shake and slide back.
• The stock: the piles in the corner, one for each deal still to come. Tap them to deal a card face up onto every column.
• Undo: the UNDO button at the top takes back your last move, as many times as you like, all the way back to the deal. On a computer, Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z) works too.
• The score line at the top shows your moves, the time and your score.

When you complete a run from King to Ace in one suit, it leaves the table by itself and flies to the foundations. Once all four runs are done, the cards cascade off the table and the results screen shows your moves, time, score and runs, with your statistics for that level: wins, losses, win rate and streaks.

The menu button in the top-left corner pauses the game, starts a new deal or turns the sound off. The "?" button opens this guide. The deal is saved after every move, so you can close the page and press CONTINUE next time - even your undo history comes back. A deal you abandon by starting a new one counts as a loss at its level.

Rules

The cards. One deck of 52. With 1 suit, all the cards are spades (four of each rank); with 2 suits, spades and hearts (two of each); with 4 suits, an ordinary deck.

The layout. Seven columns are dealt as in Klondike: one card in the first column, two in the second and so on up to seven. Only the last card of each column is face up. The other 24 cards form the stock.

Building. Any face-up card can be placed on a card one rank higher, of any suit: the 5 of hearts on the 6 of spades. Nothing can be placed on an Ace.

Moving runs. A card can be picked up together with the cards on top of it only if they form a run in order and all of the same suit. A mixed run has to be taken apart card by card.

Turning cards over. When a face-down card is left uncovered, it turns face up automatically.

Empty columns. Any card, or any run of one suit, can be moved into an empty column.

The stock. Tapping the stock deals one card face up onto each of the seven columns. There are four deals: three of seven cards and a last one of three cards, which go onto the first three columns. You can't deal while any column is empty - fill it first.

Finished runs. A complete run of one suit from King down to Ace, at the bottom of a column, leaves the table by itself for a foundation.

Scoring. Every move scores 10 points and every finished run 10 more. Every 30 seconds of play costs 30 points, although your score never drops below zero. When you win, a time bonus of 600,000 divided by the seconds you took is added. Undoing a move takes its points back, and an undo counts as a move.

Winning. You win when all four runs have been completed and collected.

Strategy tips

• Turn over face-down cards first. The tallest columns hide six cards. Moves that uncover them give you information and options; work on them before anything else.
• Build in suit whenever you can. A run of one suit moves as a unit and eventually leaves the table. A card placed on a different suit is stuck there until you take it off again.
• Empty a column before dealing. You can't deal with an empty column anyway, but more importantly, an empty column is the best tool you have. Use it to reorganise, then refill it with something useful, ideally a King.
• Deal at the right time. Each deal lays a card on every column and can cover the run you were building. Make every useful move first, then deal.
• Kings are heavy. A King can only sit at the bottom of a column. Moving a King into an empty column and building down from it is how runs get finished.
• Use undo to explore. Undo is free and unlimited - when you're unsure which of two moves is better, try one and look.

Difficulty levels

• 1 suit: every card is a spade, so every build is in suit. A gentle introduction, and almost every deal can be won.
• 2 suits: spades and hearts. You now have to choose between building in suit and simply making a move. A good challenge: most deals can be won with careful play.
• 4 suits: a full deck, with only one card of each rank and suit. Very hard: only a small share of deals can be won, and every move needs thought.