This Lesson is short and crisp as the main show of Spider Solitaire takes place in the tableau which we discussed last time. You cannot directly affect the foundation in Spider, and the stock is only partly in your hands, too. But now, one thing at a time.
The Foundation
This area of the playing field houses eight panels. Ideally, the game ends with all cards sorted by rank and suit right here. By the way, the found cards that we place here inspired the term foundation for this area.
Once a full sequence of cards in the tableau is correctly sorted, it automatically goes to a pile in the foundation. Correctly sorted means, first of all, that all cards have the same suit. That is always given in the standard game, as it uses only one suit.
Secondly, the order must be King, Queen, Jack, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, and Ace on top. That row will then land in the foundation in that exact order. And that is it; That is all you can accomplish here.
The Stock
This pile is the large unknown factor in the game. All cards that are left over after setting up the tableau are placed here, face down. 50 out of 104 total cards make it here at the beginning of each round.
When you have no more options to combine cards in the tableau, you can deal the stock’s ten top cards into the tableau in one go. Each tableau pile will gain one revealed stock card. If you are counting along, you know that you need to draw five times to bring all cards into play.
You have indirect control over the stock because you determine the timing of dealing. Additionally, if you notice that you could have added a few more cards here and there before drawing, you can use the undo button at the Spider Palace to revoke drawing from stock, too.
And with that, we already shared all you need to know about these playing field areas in Spider Solitaire. More lessons on more intricate aspects of Spider are ready for you in our list of lessons.