Spider vs Scorpion Solitaire

Spider Solitaire uses two full decks shuffled together for 104 cards total. These are dealt across ten tableau columns: four columns of six cards and six columns of five. Only the top card in each column starts face-up. The remaining 50 cards form a stock pile that you deal from throughout the game, sending one new card to every column at once.

Your goal is to build eight complete same-suit runs from King down to Ace. When you complete a full 13-card run in one suit, that sequence is automatically removed from the board. Clear all eight runs and you win. The twist is that you can stack any card on a card one rank higher regardless of suit, but only same-suit sequences can be moved as a group or removed. This tension between what's legal and what's useful is the heart of Spider strategy.

Spider comes in three difficulty levels. One-suit Spider uses only Spades and is almost always winnable. Two-suit Spider adds Hearts and raises difficulty substantially. Four-suit Spider uses all suits and is one of the hardest popular solitaire games, with skilled players winning only about 35-40% of their games.

Scorpion Solitaire uses a single standard deck of 52 cards, dealt into seven tableau columns of seven cards each. The first three columns have their top four cards face-up and bottom three face-down. The remaining four columns are entirely face-up. The last three cards form a reserve that can be dealt later (one to each of the first three columns).

The goal is to build four complete same-suit sequences from King down to Ace, all within the tableau. Unlike Spider, completed sequences stay on the board rather than being removed. You win when all four suits are arranged in complete King-through-Ace runs on the tableau columns.

Scorpion's defining feature is its movement rule: you can pick up any face-up card and move it (along with everything stacked on top of it) to another column, as long as the destination card is the same suit and one rank higher. This means you can move messy piles of mixed cards around freely, but the cards you're placing must always land on a same-suit match. Empty columns can only be filled by Kings. You can learn the full rules in our Scorpion how-to-play guide.

One Deck vs Two Decks

This is the most obvious difference and it shapes everything else. Spider's 104 cards across ten columns create a large, sprawling board with duplicate cards. Having two copies of every card means more options but also more confusion. Scorpion's 52 cards across seven columns give you a tighter board where every card is unique. The smaller game state is easier to hold in your head, which means you can plan further ahead once the face-down cards are revealed.

Stock Pile vs No Stock

Spider gives you five deals from the stock pile, each sending ten new cards across the board. This means new information and new problems arrive throughout the game. Knowing when to deal from the stock is one of Spider's most important decisions. Scorpion has no stock pile. Every card is on the tableau from the start (some face-down). The only hidden information is those 21 face-down cards in the first three columns, and they get revealed as you play. This makes Scorpion closer to a pure puzzle once you've uncovered the layout.

Movement Rules

Spider's movement is restrictive: you can only move a group of cards if they form a descending same-suit sequence. A run of 9-8-7 of Hearts moves together, but 9 of Hearts-8 of Clubs-7 of Hearts does not. This makes building pure sequences critical and punishes mixed-suit stacking.

Scorpion is more flexible with movement. You can pick up any face-up card along with everything on top of it, no matter what those cards are. The restriction comes at the destination: the card you're moving must land on a same-suit card one rank higher. This means you can relocate big messy piles to uncover face-down cards, even if those piles aren't in proper order.

How You Win

In Spider, completed King-to-Ace same-suit runs are removed from the board entirely. Clearing all eight runs (two per suit) means an empty board and a win. In Scorpion, completed runs stay on the tableau. You win when all four suits are assembled into King-through-Ace sequences in place. This means Scorpion's board gets more organized as you play, while Spider's board gets emptier.

Empty Columns

Spider lets you fill an empty column with any card. This makes empty columns extremely valuable as temporary storage, similar to free cells in FreeCell. Scorpion restricts empty columns to Kings only. This is a significant constraint that limits your ability to reorganize the board. Getting a King into an empty column is often the key turning point in a Scorpion strategy.

Spider's difficulty varies dramatically by variant. One-suit Spider has a solvability rate above 99% and plays like a gentle sorting exercise. Two-suit Spider drops to roughly 85-90% solvable. Four-suit Spider is brutally hard at around 35-40% solvable, and skilled players typically win about 35% of their games.

Scorpion sits at roughly 55% solvable with optimal play, though practical win rates for experienced players are closer to 45-50%. The face-down cards create information gaps that can doom a deal without warning. You might play perfectly with the visible cards only to discover that the face-down cards create an impossible blockage.

The fairest comparison is four-suit Spider vs Scorpion, since both involve same-suit building with significant hidden information. Scorpion is moderately easier to win but offers less control over the flow of new cards since there's no stock pile. Spider gives you more agency through stock-deal timing but punishes you with a lower overall win rate.

Both games reward patient play and thinking ahead. If you're good at one, many of your instincts carry over to the other. But each game has strategic priorities that don't translate directly.

• Uncovering face-down cards is critical in both games. Every hidden card is a potential blocker, and flipping them reveals the information you need to plan ahead.
• Empty columns are gold in Spider because any card can fill them. In Scorpion, empty columns are still valuable but restricted to Kings, so they're harder to use flexibly.
• Suit purity matters in both games for different reasons. Spider penalizes mixed-suit sequences by making them immovable as a group. Scorpion forces same-suit placement at the destination, so you physically can't build mixed runs.

Spider-specific tactics: Managing stock deals is a skill with no Scorpion equivalent. Strong Spider players try to empty at least one column before each stock deal to maximize flexibility when ten new cards arrive. Avoiding unnecessary mixed-suit stacking is also more important in Spider, since it directly limits your ability to move groups of cards.

Scorpion-specific tactics: Since you can move any face-up card with its pile, the strategy centers on uncovering face-down cards as fast as possible and getting Kings into empty columns. Scorpion tips focus heavily on reading the board for dead-end positions, since there's no stock pile to bail you out. Every card you have is already in play, so recognizing an unsolvable deal early saves time.

• Spider is a two-deck game with a stock pile and scalable difficulty (1-suit to 4-suit). Scorpion is a one-deck game with no stock and a fixed difficulty level.
• Both games require building same-suit King-to-Ace runs, but Spider removes completed runs while Scorpion keeps them on the tableau.
• Scorpion's flexible movement rule (move any card with its pile) offsets its lack of a stock pile and Kings-only empty column restriction.
• Four-suit Spider (~35-40% win rate) is harder than Scorpion (~45-55%), but one-suit Spider (~99%) is much easier.
• Scorpion games are faster (5-12 minutes vs 10-20 for Spider), making it a better fit for shorter play sessions.
• Beginners should start with one-suit Spider, then try Scorpion once they understand same-suit building concepts.

Play Spider Solitaire if: You want a game with adjustable difficulty that can be as relaxing or as punishing as you choose. One-suit Spider is perfect for winding down. Four-suit Spider is a serious strategic challenge that will test your adaptability. The stock pile adds a layer of surprise that keeps each game unpredictable, and the satisfaction of clearing a complete 13-card suit run from the board is hard to beat. Try it at our Spider Solitaire page.

Play Scorpion Solitaire if: You want a concentrated, single-deck challenge where every card is in play from the start. Scorpion rewards careful board reading and the ability to plan sequences through face-down obstacles. Games are shorter and more intense than Spider. The flexible movement rules make each turn feel impactful, and the Kings-only empty column restriction forces creative thinking. Give it a try on our Scorpion Solitaire page.

Many solitaire fans play both. Spider for longer sessions when you want the variety of stock deals and scalable difficulty. Scorpion for a quick, focused game where you're working with a known card set. They share the same DNA of same-suit sequence building but deliver it through very different mechanics. If you enjoy one, you'll almost certainly enjoy the other.