← Blog · 7 min read · Updated May 2026

The Complete Solitaire Variants Family Tree

Over 500 named solitaire variants have been published in card-game compilations since the 1700s. Most of them are mutations of a small number of "ancestor" games — change one rule and you have a new variant; change two and you have a different family. This article maps the major living solitaire variants by lineage, so you can navigate the genre and pick what to try next based on what you already like.

The Three Big Families

Modern solitaire breaks roughly into three families, named after their most famous member:

1. The Klondike family: Cards build down in alternating colors on a tableau; foundations build up by suit.
2. The Spider family: Two decks, descending sequences on the tableau, removal happens when sequences complete.
3. The Pyramid / Golf / TriPeaks family: Cards are paired or chained to a foundation rather than stacked.

The Klondike Family

Klondike's defining rules: 7 columns, stockpile, alternating-color tableau builds, by-suit foundations. Its descendants modify one rule at a time:

• Klondike: the canonical version.
• Yukon: same layout, but all 52 cards dealt to the tableau (no stock) and free-group moves allowed.
• Russian Solitaire: Yukon with same-suit tableau builds. Brutal.
• Canfield: 4 columns instead of 7, a 13-card reserve, and a random starting rank for foundations.
• Forty Thieves: Two decks, 10 columns, same-suit tableau, one-card moves only.
• FreeCell: All cards face-up, 4 buffer cells, no stock. The "open information" branch.

The Spider Family

Spider uses two decks and the "build descending, remove same-suit runs" mechanic. Members:

• Spider: the canonical version, in 1/2/4 suit variants.
• Scorpion: single deck, free-group moves, only one stock deal.
• Spiderette: single-deck mini-Spider with 7 columns instead of 10.
• Black Widow: Spider with one-suit deck (often considered the same as Spider 1-Suit).

The Pyramid / Golf / TriPeaks Family

This family abandons tableau stacking entirely. Cards are paired or chained based on rank relationships, not color sequences.

• Pyramid: pair cards summing to 13.
• TriPeaks: chain cards one rank above or below the foundation.
• Golf: like TriPeaks but with rectangular tableau columns and stricter no-wrap rules.
• Monte Carlo: pair adjacent same-rank cards on a 5×5 grid.
• Wish: simplified Pyramid with 32 cards (8s through Kings).

Outliers

A few popular solitaires don't fit neatly into the three families:

• Addiction (also called Gaps or Vacancies): a grid-based sorting puzzle with no foundations or stock at all.
• Grandfather's Clock: a tableau game where foundations are arranged in a clock face and each must end on the rank matching its hour position.
• Klondike Thoughtful: Klondike with all cards face-up. Used in competition play to compare strategies on identical information sets.

How to Choose What to Try Next

If you've mastered Klondike and want progressive challenge:

1. Add Yukon — same layout, harder, more skill-rewarding.
2. Try FreeCell — same family but completely different feel (open information).
3. Move to Russian Solitaire — Yukon's nastier cousin.
4. Branch to Spider 2-Suit — different family, new rhythm.
5. Sample TriPeaks — entirely different mental model.

The Common Thread

What unites all 500+ variants is the experience: you, alone, against a deck of cards. Everything else — group moves, suit constraints, layout — is a knob designers turn to change the puzzle. Knowing which knob each variant moved is the fastest way to know which one you'll enjoy.

Try any variant on our homepage. The variant grid links to all 14 we have running.