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Scorpion Solitaire is a one-deck cousin of Spider Solitaire. Build four same-suit sequences from King down to Ace to clear the tableau. The twist is that you can move any face-up card, along with every card on top of it, so the deal plays out like a puzzle that rewards planning several moves ahead.

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Scorpion Solitaire Objective

Win Scorpion Solitaire by building four complete runs, one in each suit, from King down to Ace, in the tableau. Each finished run clears off the tableau automatically, and the game is won when all four are gone.

Each game starts with 49 cards dealt into seven columns of seven. In the first four columns, the top three cards start face down. Every other card starts face up, so most of the deal is visible from the first move. The last three cards form a small reserve that you can deal once, whenever you choose.

Scorpion Solitaire Rules

Scorpion plays a lot like Spider Solitaire, with one big difference in how cards move. These are the rules to know.

• Build down in the same suit. A card can only go on the next-higher card of the same suit. For example, the 7♥ can go on the 8♥, but not on the 8♦ or the 8♠. Nothing can be placed on an Ace.
• Any face-up card can be moved. When you move a card, every card on top of it moves with it, whether or not those cards are in order. Only the card you pick up has to fit where it lands.
• Only Kings can go in an empty column. You can move a King on its own or with every card on top of it.
• Face-down cards flip automatically. As soon as a face-down card is uncovered, it turns face up.
• Deal the reserve once. Click the reserve to place the three reserve cards face up, one each on the first three columns. You can do this at any point in the game, but only once.
• Complete runs clear automatically. When a column ends in a full King-to-Ace run of one suit, the run moves to the foundation.

The game is over when you can’t make a legal move and the reserve has been dealt. If you get stuck, Undo takes back a move and Hint points out a useful one. Choose Restart to replay the same deal or New Game for a fresh one. Every deal can be won. Each one is solved by a computer before it’s dealt.

Click-to-move is on by default, so you can click a card to send it, and everything on top of it, to the only place it can go. You can turn it off in Options > Settings > Game Options.

Scorpion vs. Spider Solitaire

Scorpion and Spider share the same goal of building King-to-Ace sequences in suit and clearing them off the tableau. The way you get there is different.

• Moving cards. In Spider, you can only move a group of cards if it’s already an ordered run in one suit. In Scorpion, you can move any face-up card along with whatever is on top of it.
• Building. Spider lets you build on any card one rank higher, in any suit. Scorpion only lets you build in the same suit, so each card has exactly one place it can go.
• Decks and cards. Spider uses two decks (or 104 cards) and deals ten columns, with most cards face down. Scorpion uses one deck and seven columns, with only 12 cards face down.
• Empty columns. In Spider, any card can fill an empty column. In Scorpion, only a King can.
• Extra cards. Spider deals ten new cards from its stockpile five times a game. Scorpion has a single three-card reserve.

Because so many cards are face up from the start, Scorpion rewards planning more than luck.

Tips and Strategies to Win Scorpion Solitaire

Every card in Scorpion has only one place it can go, so the order of your moves matters more than in most Solitaire games. These tips will help you plan.

• Uncover the face-down cards first. The 12 face-down cards are the only unknowns in the deal. Freeing them early tells you where every card is and keeps them from blocking a run late in the game.
• Clear a column for a King. Since only Kings can fill an empty column, an empty column is most useful when a King with a long same-suit run below it is waiting to move there.
• Check which cards come along. Moving a card also moves every card on top of it. Before you move, make sure those extra cards won’t land where you want to build next. For example, moving the 7♥ with a Queen on top of it leaves the Queen covering the 7♥, so the 6♥ can’t go on it until the Queen moves.
• Build runs toward King-to-Ace. Prefer moves that add to a same-suit run that’s already in order. Each finished run clears 13 cards off the tableau and frees up space for the rest.
• Save the reserve. The reserve can only be dealt once, and it lands on the first three columns. Deal it when you’re out of good moves, and avoid dealing it onto a run you’re about to complete.
• Move higher cards off lower cards of the same suit. If a higher card sits on top of a lower card of its own suit, the lower card can still move, but the higher card comes with it and blocks its sequence. Move the higher card to its own next card first. This matters most with Kings. A King can only move to an empty column, so a card buried under its own King can stay stuck until you clear a column for it.

Your score rewards efficient play, so winning faster and in fewer moves scores higher. Every card or group you move and every Undo or Hint counts as a move, and Undo and Hint also count as penalties. Dealing the reserve and finished runs clearing don’t count. Learn more about how Solitaire is scored.