Spider

This fascinating two-deck game requires both luck and great concentration to win. Spider is also a chance for players with larger screens to spread out a bit and puzzle over a large layout.

Layout Size: Won’t fit on small screens without scrolling. Players with small screens may be frustrated by the large layout, but if you’re determined you can minimize scrolling by making the window just as large as you can; adjusting the horizontal scrollbar so that all ten tableaus are at least partially visible; and adjusting the vertical scrollbar so that the hand and the eight wastepiles are almost out of sight above. Don’t forget you can use ⌘D to deal when the deck is not visible!

Difficulty: Decisions, decisions, decisions! Spider will challenge your mind. Don’t expect easy wins, but skilled players can win at least one game in four.

Rules: Spider uses ten tableau piles and the hand, and nothing else. (Solitaire Till Dawn also offers eight wastepiles to hold the King-to-Ace builds which the rules allow you to discard; but normally you’d just scoop up these builds and set them aside.)

Shuffle two decks together. Start the game by putting five cards face-down and one face-up in four of the tableaus, and four face-down and one face-up in the remaining six tableaus — a total of 54 cards. Keep the remaining 50 cards in your hand.

The tableaus build down, without regard for color or suit. Topmost card of each tableau is available; in addition, full or partial builds in suit  are also available. (Although you do not have to build by following suit, there is an advantage in doing so because such builds can be moved while mixed-suit builds cannot.)

(See picture: Spider. A game in progress (with part of the middle missing, for lack of room). The 10S, 9S may be moved to the JS; then the JS, 10S, 9S to the QH. The 8D, 7H, 6H may not be moved to the 9S because they are not in suit. Other plays are also possible, such as the AC to the 2C.)

Empty spaces may be filled with any available card or build. Note however that Kings can only  be played into empty spaces because there’s no higher rank to build them on.

You may deal any time you wish, provided that no tableaus are empty. To deal, turn up ten cards from the hand and put one onto each tableau regardless of rank or suit. Usually you’ll deal when you’ve run out of other moves.

Completed King-to-Ace builds in suit may be permanently removed from play by dragging them onto an empty wastepile. Note that you are not required to remove such builds, and there may be an advantage to leaving them in the tableau for a time to help in untangling other tableau piles. When all cards have been removed to the wastepiles, the game is won.

On the Screen: Solitaire Till Dawn will deal ten cards for you when you click on the hand. The number displayed on the hand is the number of deals remaining, instead of the number of cards in the hand.