Syed Arham October 26, 2023

2 Suits Spider Solitaire – Spider Palace

A Beginner-Friendly Guide To Play Two Suits Spider Solitaire

2 Suits Spider Solitaire isn’t a game you want to venture into without any prior preparation. Those of you who are coming from games like Solitaire and Klondike might find the layout to be pretty similar to the games you’ve played, but 2 Suit Spider Solitaire is actually one of the more challenging games you’ll come across on theSolitaire.com

To put things into perspective, about 33% of all Klondike games played online are won, whereas only 16.6% of 2 Suit Spider Solitaire are won. That’s a whopping 2x difference in terms of win rates! Personally, I had to put in quite a bit of effort before I ever managed to win a game of 2 Suit Solitaire – but now, I’m here to impart my knowledge to you. In this guide, we’ll go through everything there is to know about 2 Suit Spider Solitaire and how you can win in it.

2 Suits Spider Solitaire is one of three Spider Solitaire variants – 1 suit, two suits, and four suits. You can think of them in terms of difficulty, as it essentially describes the number of decks used in the game as well as the number of suits involved.

In 2 Suits Spider Solitaire, there are two decks of cards (104 cards), which are split into two suits, hence the name. TheSolitaire.com has a great interface when it comes to their 2 Suits Spider Solitaire game. Here’s a quick look at the available features:

Now, 2 Suit Spider Solitaire isn’t the game you want to start your Spider Solitaire journey with, and I only say that since I find it quite essential to get some practice in 1 Suit Spider Solitaire first. Not only will you have a much better grasp of the rules, but you’ll also get some practice on how things first. Fortunately, theSolitaire.com easily lets you interchange between the game modes whenever you feel like you’re ready to jump a level.

So, what makes 2 Suit Spider Solitaire so challenging? Well, on the surface, it’s just like one-suit Spider Solitaire. Let’s discuss the similarities, differences, and how the game is set up before we move on to the most popular strategies.

Setup

As we discussed before, we’ll be using two decks of cards in this variant. With 104 cards on the entire layout, a portion of the available deck is laid out on ten tableau columns, where the first four columns contain five cards each, and the last six columns contain six cards each. The remainder is stored in the stockpile located at the bottom right.

Gameplay

Now, you can move cards on top of another card in the tableau if it is one rank lower, regardless of suit. For example, you can move a red ten onto a black Jack. However, to remove them from the game – essentially completing an entire column – you must arrange them in a complete sequence from King to Ace and of the same suit.

If you find yourself out of moves, you can add cards from the stockpile onto the tableau when no more moves are available. This adds one card to each column – you can’t pick and choose! Cards go on to all columns, regardless of how close you are to completing an entire column.

If you want to move groups of cards, you must first ensure they’re placed in a proper sequence and belong to the same suit. So, a black column of 5, 4, 3, 2 can be moved, but a column with alternating cards (e.g. red 5, black 6, red 7) cannot be moved in a group. However, individual cards can be moved from one column to another.

Winning The Game

A game of 2 Suit Spider Solitaire ends once you’ve completed eight columns of cards by arranging them from Kings to aces. With two suits, this means you’ll have four columns of black cards and four columns of red cards, each carrying 13 cards. Don’t worry, though. This isn’t as herculean of a task as you’re thinking. Once we go over the basic strategies for winning, you’ll be an expert at this game in no time!

Beyond arranging cards in descending order, there are a lot more strategies to winning at 2 Suit Spider Solitaire. Here, we’ll cover some of the most common ones so you can improve your win rate.

1. Expose Hidden Cards

   The most effective strategy for winning is prioritizing moves that expose more hidden cards. When you start the game, only the first card in each column remains exposed. Move these cards around to reveal more cards underneath, and you’ll get closer to your goal!

2. Same Suits Are Better Than Different Suits

   When you have a move that’ll put two cards of the same suit together, use it! When you instead arrange cards in different suits, you significantly reduce your options as you progress through the game. The main advantage to sticking to the same suit unless absolutely necessary is that you can group those cards together when moving them around, giving you much better flexibility.

3. Empty Out Columns For The King

   Empty columns are like blank canvases. You can immediately place any King on to them, and from then on, you can start arranging your column from scratch. Use them to start exposing more cards in the remaining columns.

4. Break Sequences When You Can Expose More Cards

   Remember the rule about sticking to the same suit? Well, there are exceptions to this rule. The main exception is when breaking a sequence with an off-suit card helps you reveal more cards in a column. While this may interrupt your sequence, and you may have to rearrange it before completing it, the benefit of having more cards to move around is highly significant.

   Of course, these strategies are crucial if winning the game is your goal, but don’t be deterred if you fail the first few times. Remember, practice makes perfect; sometimes, the shuffle just works against your favor.

Hopefully, this brief guide gave you a quick look at what to expect from 2 Suit Spider Solitaire. However, if you ever need a quick glance at the basics of the game, the table below can serve as a nice refresher: