Choose a solitaire variant (Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid, etc.)
Gather a standard deck of cards (or use an online/mobile solitaire app)
Remove jokers (if using a standard 52-card deck)
Shuffle the deck thoroughly
Deal the cards according to the chosen variant rules
Klondike: Deal 7 tableau piles with increasing card counts (1 to 7), face up the top card of each pile, remaining tableau cards face down
Klondike: Place the remaining cards as the stock (face down) and set aside the waste pile (empty)
Spider: Deal 10 tableau cards to create 5 piles (face down and face up as specified), then deal additional cards per rules
FreeCell: Deal 8 tableau columns (7 with 7 cards and 1 with 6 cards, depending on rules) plus 4 foundation spaces
Pyramid: Deal 28 cards into a pyramid layout (7 rows), with remaining cards as the stock
Identify the goal areas (foundations) for the selected variant
Klondike: Build foundations by suit from Ace to King
Spider: Build sequences within tableau downwards or suit-based per rules and complete full sequences to foundations
FreeCell: Move cards to foundations by suit from Ace to King
Pyramid: Remove pairs that sum to 13 (or follow variant-specific scoring/removal rules)
Start making legal moves:
Move eligible cards within tableau according to the variant (e.g., alternating colors and descending ranks in Klondike)
Move eligible cards to foundations when possible
Expose face-down cards when rules allow
Draw from the stock/waste (if applicable) according to the variant’s draw rules
Continue until you either complete all foundations (win) or no legal moves remain (loss)