Spiderette is compact Spider with much less slack.

How Spiderette relates to Spider

Spiderette is a one-deck adaptation of Spider Solitaire. It shares Spider’s core objective (complete four same-suit King-to-Ace runs) and its basic rules (sequences build downward, mixed runs can be built but only same-suit runs move as units). The key structural differences are:

• One deck (52 cards) instead of two (104 cards). Fewer cards to track, but also fewer of each rank — exactly one of each card instead of two.
• Seven columns instead of ten. The layout mirrors Klondike: columns 1 through 7 have 1 through 7 cards, with only the top card face-up.
• Three stock deals of seven cards each(one card to each column), compared to Spider’s five deals of ten cards each.
• Four completions needed — the same as Spider but from a smaller pool, which means each suit run uses every card of that suit exactly once.

The compression of the format — fewer columns, fewer cards — means there is less room to absorb mistakes and fewer moves between a promising position and a stuck one.

Opening priorities: reveal fast, build clean

Spiderette’s opening deal hides most of the deck. Columns 2 through 7 have between one and six face-down cards beneath their top face-up card. Revealing these cards is the primary goal of the first phase of the game.

The longer columns (columns 5, 6, 7) have more hidden cards and therefore more unknown information. Focusing reveals on these columns first exposes more of the deck faster. However, the short columns (columns 1, 2, 3) are closer to being cleared to empty — which creates the precious empty columns you need for later reorganization.

Empty column scarcity

In two-deck Spider with ten columns, maintaining one or two empty columns is achievable for much of the game. In Spiderette with seven columns, losing even one column to a mixed-suit parking job creates a board with six active columns — which is tight enough to stop most reorganization plans.

The implications:

• Never fill an empty column with a card unless you have a specific, immediate plan for how that column will become empty again within the next few moves.
• When you have two empty columns, treat them as a two-cell working space for suit separation — do not fill both with unrelated cards.
• A King is the best candidate for an empty column because it can anchor a full suit run. Other cards should only go to empty columns as a temporary necessity.

Same-suit building in a one-deck game

In two-deck Spider, you have two of every card. This means when you need a 7 of hearts, there are two in the deck. In Spiderette, there is exactly one of each card. If the 7 of hearts is buried deep in a column with no clear path to it, you cannot rely on a second copy to appear.

This makes suit-run planning more precise in Spiderette than in Spider. You need to locate each card in its suit sequence and know where it is before committing to a specific run-building plan.

Stock deal timing

Spiderette has three stock deals. Unlike Spider’s five deals over a larger board, three deals over seven columns means each deal adds significant pressure relative to the board size. Each stock deal covers the top of every column, which can bury useful face-up cards and reduce your available moves.

The rules for stock timing in Spiderette follow the same logic as Spider but with higher stakes:

• Exhaust all useful same-suit moves before dealing.
• Prefer to have at least one empty column when you deal, so the worst stock card lands in an empty slot rather than on a useful top card.
• If facing the last stock deal, ensure the tableau is as clean as possible first — a messy board with one deal remaining is likely to end in a loss.

Spiderette vs. Will O’ the Wisp

Will O’ the Wispis the most common Spiderette variant. The core difference is in the opening deal: Spiderette uses a standard 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 column layout (Klondike-style), while Will O’ the Wisp deals three cards to each of seven columns (3×7), with the top card face-up and the others face-down.

The practical consequence: Will O’ the Wisp starts with an even distribution of face-down cards across all columns, making reveal opportunities roughly equal across the board. Spiderette’s pyramid layout gives you a short column (1 card) immediately available for clearing but a long column (7 cards) with many hidden cards. The different opening shapes call for slightly different reveal priorities, but the mid-game strategy is identical.

Common mistakes

• Spending empty columns on non-King cards. In a seven-column game, empty space is so scarce that any non-King in an empty column is almost certainly a mistake unless it is immediately reunited with a run.
• Building mixed-suit runs when same-suit options exist.With exactly one of each card, every mixed run you build is a future suit- separation problem. Same-suit building is even more important in Spiderette than in Spider.
• Dealing stock with a tight board.A stock deal that buries your last empty column’s useful card can end the game. Clean up before dealing whenever possible.