CozyWorld guide
Card Games to Play by Yourself: 14 Solo Picks
Fourteen card games for one, from Klondike, Spider and FreeCell to Accordion, Clock and Aces Up, with how hard each one is and what you need to play.
Snowberry Cabin Solitaire gameplay screenshot: FreeCell deal 2,027 with 17 of 52 cards home, two of the four free cells in use and Maple the red panda in her armchair by the window.
The best card games to play by yourself are the solitaires, and six of the most popular are free in your browser on CozyWorld: Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, TriPeaks, Pyramid and Golf. With a real deck on the kitchen table, the classics most worth learning next are Accordion, Clock, Canfield, Forty Thieves, Yukon, La Belle Lucie and Aces Up. For a modern card game for one, Balatro builds a whole game out of poker hands.
Solitaire is not one game but a family of hundreds, also called patience. Some are almost pure luck, some can nearly always be won with enough care, and the best ones sit in between. Knowing a few types means you always have something to do with a deck of cards and a quiet hour.
Snowberry Cabin Solitaire is the CozyWorld pick to start with. It is FreeCell, where every card is dealt face up and almost every deal can be won, so the challenge is thinking ahead rather than hoping. Deals are numbered 1 to 32,000 like the classic Windows FreeCell, with a daily deal, hints from a solver and unlimited undo.
The rules for the traditional solitaires below come from Wikipedia's articles on each game, and Balatro from its Steam store page. None of it comes from our own play sessions, so check those pages for the variations you prefer.
Card games for one compared
What you need, how often it comes out and what kind of game each one is, as of October 2026.
| Game | Cards | Where to play | How winnable | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snowberry Cabin Solitaire | One deck, all face up | Browser (phone, tablet, computer), free | Almost every deal | FreeCell, where planning wins |
| Porch Swing Solitaire | One deck | Browser (phone, tablet, computer), free | Winnable deals by default | Klondike, Draw 1 or Draw 3 |
| Dewdrop Garden Solitaire | Two decks | Browser (phone, tablet, computer), free | Gentle with one suit, hard with four | Spider, the long game |
| Cozy Peaks Solitaire | One deck | Browser (phone, tablet, computer), free | Varies, nothing lost on a bad hand | TriPeaks streaks and garden orders |
| Puffin Bluff Solitaire | One deck | Browser (phone, tablet, computer), free | Winnable deals by default | Pyramid, pairs that make 13 |
| Buttercup Links Golf Solitaire | One deck | Browser (phone, tablet, computer), free | Winnable deals by default | Golf solitaire, nine holes a round |
| Accordion | One deck | A real deck | About 1 in 100 | A five-minute long shot |
| Clock | One deck | A real deck | Exactly 1 in 13 | Pure luck, no decisions |
| Canfield | One deck | A real deck | Hard, about 1 in 30 | A tough classic with a casino past |
| Forty Thieves | Two decks | A real deck | Hard, about 1 in 10 | A big two-deck challenge |
| Yukon | One deck | A real deck | Skill matters, no stock | Klondike without the stock |
| La Belle Lucie | One deck | A real deck | Very hard | A pretty fan layout |
| Aces Up | One deck | A real deck | About 1 in 35 | The quickest to learn |
| Balatro | Its own decks | PC, Mac (one-time purchase) | A run to beat | A poker-hand deckbuilder |
Win odds for the traditional games come from their Wikipedia articles, and platforms and price model for Balatro from its Steam store page, all checked on October 31, 2026. PC means Windows.
Featured CozyWorld Games
Start with these free browser games if you want a cozy session without a download or an account. Each card says what kind of play it is, so you can pick the one that fits your mood.
FreeCell, where every card is face up
Snowberry Cabin Solitaire
Use four free cells to build eight columns down in alternating colors and send all 52 cards home. Choose any deal from 1 to 32,000, the famous deal 11982 included, or play the daily deal, with hints from a solver.
Klondike, the game most people call solitaire
Porch Swing Solitaire
Build seven columns down in alternating colors and send every card home, Ace to King. Play Draw 1 or the harder Draw 3, with winnable deals by default and plain shuffles one setting away.
Spider with one, two or four suits
Dewdrop Garden Solitaire
Build runs from King down to Ace in one suit across ten columns of a two-deck layout and clear all eight. One suit is a gentle start and four is the traditional challenge, with unlimited undo.
TriPeaks with a garden that grows
Cozy Peaks Solitaire
Clear three peaks of cards by playing one rank up or down and build long streaks. Crop cards fill your animal neighbors' orders through four seasons, nothing is timed and a lost hand never takes anything away.
Pyramid, the quick solitaire of pairs
Puffin Bluff Solitaire
Pair free cards that add up to 13 and send Kings off alone to clear a 28-card pyramid. Choose one pass through the stock, the traditional rule, three passes or as many as you like.
Golf solitaire as a nine-hole round
Buttercup Links Golf Solitaire
All 35 cards in seven columns are face up, so every deal is a planning puzzle. Play cards one rank up or down, and score each deal like a hole of golf over nine holes against a par of 45.
Types of solitaire, and which to try first
Building games are the classic shape: you build columns down in alternating colors and send cards home to foundations by suit. Klondike is the famous one, FreeCell shows you every card from the start, Canfield adds a reserve and a moving starting rank, and Yukon lets you move a group of cards even when the cards beneath it are out of order.
Suit games ask for more patience. Spider and Forty Thieves both use two decks and want cards built down in suit, which tends to make them longer. La Belle Lucie spreads the deck into fans of three and lets you move only the top card of each.
Quick games are about matching or clearing. Pyramid pairs cards that add up to 13, Golf and TriPeaks play cards one rank up or down onto a single pile, Aces Up discards lower cards of a suit until only the aces remain, and Accordion squeezes a row of 52 cards down to a single pile. Clock is the odd one out: it plays itself, and all you do is turn the cards.
If you are new to solitaire beyond Klondike, try Golf or Pyramid for something quick, then FreeCell for a game you can nearly always win with care. CozyWorld's blog has how-to-play guides for Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid and Golf, and the wider roundup of cozy card games covers the games with opponents.
Luck, skill and how often you will win
Win rates vary hugely. Wikipedia puts Clock at exactly 1 in 13 and calls it a purely mechanical process with no room for skill. Accordion comes out about once in a hundred tries, Aces Up about once in 35, Canfield about once in 30 and Forty Thieves about once in ten.
FreeCell sits at the other end: almost every deal can be won. Three of the CozyWorld solitaires, Klondike, Pyramid and Golf, also deal only winnable hands by default, because a solver has cleared each one before it reaches you. If you prefer the gamble of a real shuffle, each has plain shuffles one setting away.
Quick Picks
The easiest way to choose is to start with the kind of cozy session you want right now: a quick browser game, a longer download, something story-led, or a deeper puzzle or strategy loop. These are the standouts from this guide.
- FreeCell, where every card is face up: Snowberry Cabin Solitaire
- Klondike, the game most people call solitaire: Porch Swing Solitaire
- Spider with one, two or four suits: Dewdrop Garden Solitaire
- TriPeaks with a garden that grows: Cozy Peaks Solitaire
- Pyramid, the quick solitaire of pairs: Puffin Bluff Solitaire
- A five-minute long shot: Accordion
- Pure luck, no decisions: Clock
- A tough classic with a casino past: Canfield
- A big two-deck challenge: Forty Thieves
- Klondike without the stock: Yukon
Choosing between these games
Choose by how much time you have. Aces Up, Accordion, Pyramid and a hole of Golf take minutes. Klondike and FreeCell take a cup of tea. Spider and Forty Thieves are for a longer evening.
Choose by how you feel about losing. If you want to win most deals, play FreeCell or the CozyWorld games with winnable deals. If you enjoy the long shot, Accordion, La Belle Lucie and Canfield will rarely give in, and Clock decides itself.
CozyWorld publishes the featured browser games. The external recommendations are editorial comparisons based on the linked official descriptions, not claims of firsthand playtesting. Check those pages for current price, platform and availability.
More Solitaire Card Games to Learn
Pick 1
Accordion
Best for: A five-minute long shot
What it is: Accordion deals the whole deck into a single row. You may move a pile onto the pile just to its left, or three places to its left, when their top cards match in suit or rank, closing the gaps as you go. You win by gathering all 52 cards into one pile. Wikipedia puts the odds at about 1 in 100 and notes a game often takes about five minutes. It is also called The Idle Year and Tower of Babel.
Why it works here: Choose this when you want a tiny table and a long shot. Winning even once feels like an event.
Read the rulesPick 2
Clock
Best for: Pure luck, no decisions
What it is: Clock deals twelve piles of four in a circle like the hours of a clock, with four more in the middle. Turn the top center card and slide it under the pile matching its rank, then turn that pile's top card and carry on, with kings going to the center. You win if every card is turned before the fourth king appears. Wikipedia gives the odds as exactly 1 in 13.
Why it works here: Choose this when you want to keep your hands busy and your mind free. It asks nothing of you but turning cards.
Read the rulesPick 3
Canfield
Best for: A tough classic with a casino past
What it is: Canfield, known as Demon in Britain, starts with a 13-card reserve and four tableau piles. The first foundation card sets the starting rank for all four foundations, the tableau builds down in alternating colors, and the stock is dealt three at a time. It is named for Richard A. Canfield, who offered a gambling version at his Saratoga Springs casino. Wikipedia lists the odds as 1 in 30.
Why it works here: Choose this when Klondike feels too easy. Confusingly, in Britain the name Canfield has been used for Klondike, the reverse of the American usage.
Read the rulesPick 4
Forty Thieves
Best for: A big two-deck challenge
What it is: Forty Thieves, also called Napoleon at St Helena, uses two decks. Ten columns are dealt from four face-up rows, only the top card of a column can move, and columns build down in suit. You may go through the stock only once. Wikipedia describes it as hard to win, with odds of about 1 in 10, and notes that success usually depends on clearing a column.
Why it works here: Choose this when you liked Spider and want something stricter. One card at a time and one pass through the stock make every move count.
Read the rulesPick 5
Yukon
Best for: Klondike without the stock
What it is: Yukon deals all 52 cards into seven tableau piles at the start, so there is no stock at all. Foundations build up by suit, and you may move a group of cards onto another pile as long as the group itself is in sequence and alternates in color, even if the cards beneath it are in any order.
Why it works here: Choose this when you know Klondike well and want more of your own decisions in play. With no stock to turn, everything depends on the moves you choose.
Read the rulesPick 6
La Belle Lucie
Best for: A pretty fan layout
What it is: La Belle Lucie spreads the deck into seventeen fans of three cards and one single card. Only the top card of each fan can move, onto another fan in descending order by suit or up to the foundations. When you run out of moves you may gather and redeal the fans twice, and a last "merci" move lets you pull one buried card free. Wikipedia calls it very hard to win under the usual rules.
Why it works here: Choose this when you like a layout that looks good on the table and a game that rarely gives in. The merci move is a lovely last-ditch rescue.
Read the rulesPick 7
Aces Up
Best for: The quickest to learn
What it is: Aces Up deals four cards face up. Whenever two showing cards share a suit, discard the lower one, with aces ranking high, and fill empty piles from the tops of others. When you are stuck, deal four more. The goal is to discard everything except the four aces. Wikipedia says it is won about 1 in 35 times with normal play, and it is also called Idiot's Delight.
Why it works here: Choose this when you want a game you can explain in one breath and play on a tray table. It needs space for only four piles.
Read the rulesPick 8
Balatro
Best for: A poker-hand deckbuilder
What it is: Balatro calls itself the poker roguelike. You play poker hands and add Joker cards that change how they score, earning enough chips to beat each blind on the way to the boss blind and the final ante. Its Steam page lists 150 Jokers, 15 decks, a campaign with 8 difficulties, and single-player only on Windows and Mac. It is a one-time purchase.
Why it works here: Choose this when traditional solitaire feels too settled and you want a card game for one that is new every run. The Steam page lists it as playable without timed input, so you can think as long as you like.
Official pageWhich One Should You Play First?
Start with Snowberry Cabin Solitaire if you want a game you can nearly always win, Porch Swing Solitaire for Klondike, and Dewdrop Garden Solitaire when you want to settle in for a while. Cozy Peaks Solitaire, Puffin Bluff Solitaire and Buttercup Links Golf Solitaire are the quick ones. All six are free in your browser.
With a real deck, Aces Up and Accordion are the fastest to learn, Clock is pure luck, Yukon is the step up from Klondike, and Canfield, Forty Thieves and La Belle Lucie are the hard ones. For something new, Balatro is the modern card game for one.
Related guides and roundups
FAQ
Show questions
What card games can you play by yourself?
Solitaire games are the card games for one. Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, TriPeaks, Pyramid and Golf are free in your browser on CozyWorld, and with a real deck you can play Accordion, Clock, Canfield, Forty Thieves, Yukon, La Belle Lucie and Aces Up.
What are the different types of solitaire?
Building games such as Klondike, FreeCell, Canfield and Yukon build columns down in alternating colors. Suit games such as Spider and Forty Thieves build in one suit. Quick games such as Pyramid, Golf, TriPeaks, Aces Up and Accordion are about pairing, matching or discarding, and Clock is pure luck.
Which solitaire is the easiest to win?
FreeCell, because every card is face up and almost every deal can be won. Spider with one suit is also gentle. Snowberry Cabin Solitaire and Dewdrop Garden Solitaire offer both free in your browser, and Porch Swing, Puffin Bluff and Buttercup Links deal winnable hands by default.
Which solitaire is the hardest?
Of the games here with published odds, Accordion has the longest odds at about 1 in 100, according to Wikipedia. La Belle Lucie, Aces Up at about 1 in 35, Canfield at about 1 in 30 and Forty Thieves at about 1 in 10 are also hard, and four-suit Spider is a classic challenge.
Is solitaire luck or skill?
It depends on the game. Clock is pure luck with no decisions at all. FreeCell is almost all skill, since every card is visible from the start. Klondike, Spider and most others mix the two: the deal matters, and so do your choices.
See Also
Free online games for seniors and older adults: solitaire, mahjong, word search, sudoku, jigsaw and nonograms that open in a browser, with no countdown, no accounts and no purchases. Here is how the eight compare on round length, timers and help.
How to Play Hearts: Rules, Scoring and StrategyHearts is the classic four-player card game where you try not to win the wrong tricks. Here is how to deal, how the pass works, how a trick is played, when hearts may be led, how a hand is scored, what shooting the moon means, how the game ends and ties are broken, how strong each level of our computer players is, and the strategy, common mistakes and tips that keep your score low.
How to Play Gin Rummy: Rules, Scoring and StrategyGin rummy is the classic two-player card game of sets and runs. Here is how to deal, how a turn works, what counts as a meld, when you may knock or go gin, how layoffs and undercuts work, how a game to 100 is scored, how strong each level of our computer opponent is, and the strategy, common mistakes and tips that win more hands.
Free Online Games for Adults: No DownloadGrown-up games that open in a browser tab: classic cards and board games, sudoku, a village whodunit and a village to share, plus the best free game sites run by newspapers and nonprofits.