About Scorpion Solitaire

Scorpion Solitaire is a free single-player card game from the Spider family. All 52 cards are dealt into seven columns — the top three cards of the first four columns start face down. Your goal is to gather every suit into a single run, from King down to Ace. Build four complete suits and you win the deal.

How to play

Move a card onto another card of the same suit and one rank higher — for example, a 6♠ goes onto a 7♠. The trick that makes Scorpion special: when you move a card, every card stacked on top of it comes along, even if those cards are out of order. Whenever a face-down card is uncovered, it flips face up. Only a King (with its pile) may move into an empty column.

The reserve

Three cards are held back as a reserve. When you are stuck, tap Deal 3 to drop them face up onto the first three columns. You can do this once per deal, so use it wisely.

Is it hard?

Scorpion is one of the more challenging solitaires — the face-down cards and the pile rule make every move count. That is why undo here is unlimited: take a move back any time and try a different line. Clear a deal and your streak grows; your streak is saved on your device so it is waiting when you come back.

Scorpion Solitaire Rules, in Full

All 52 cards are dealt into seven columns of seven. In the first four columns the top three cards are face down; everything else starts face up. There are no foundations to build to — the whole game happens on the tableau. A card may be moved onto a card of the same suit that is exactly one rank higher, and when it moves, every card stacked above it travels with it as a single block regardless of order. Uncovering a face-down card flips it immediately. Only a King and its pile may be placed into an empty column. Three reserve cards can be dealt onto the first three columns once per game. You win when all four suits sit in complete King-to-Ace runs.

Scorpion Solitaire Strategy — Dig Before You Tidy

Scorpion punishes neatness. The board can look organised and be unwinnable, because what matters is what is still hidden. In practice:

• Face-down cards first. Any move that flips one is usually better than a move that merely joins two cards in sequence. You cannot plan around cards you have not seen.
• Think about what you bury. Because piles move whole, dropping a long out-of-order stack on top of a card you need can cost the deal. Check what is underneath before you commit.
• An empty column is a King's door, not storage. If no King is reachable, clearing a column often achieves nothing. Empty one when you have a specific King in mind.
• Hold the reserve. Deal 3 is a single use. Spending it to solve a small blockage early leaves you with nothing when the real one arrives.
• Use undo as a tool. Play a line out, see where it dies, take it back. That is the intended way to learn a deal.

Why Scorpion Is Harder Than It Looks

The move rule reads as generous — you can pick up any card and everything on it — and beginners take that as freedom. It is closer to the opposite. Being able to move anything means you can very easily move the wrong thing, and unlike solitaires that only let you move ordered runs, nothing in the rules stops you from making the board worse. Combined with the four face-down cards you start blind to, most losses are decided in the first ten moves rather than the last ten. That is why unlimited undo is on by default here.

Scorpion vs Spider vs Klondike

Spider Solitaire is Scorpion's closest relative: same idea of assembling suits in descending order, but with two decks, ten columns and a stock that deals a fresh row across the entire board when you stall. Klondike is a different game entirely — four foundations, building up by suit, alternating colours on the tableau. Scorpion sits between them in length and above both in difficulty per deal. If you want something shorter and guaranteed solvable, Golf Solitaire is the opposite end; if you want long and brutal, Forty Thieves is the two-deck version of that feeling.

Play Scorpion Solitaire Free Online — No Download

No account, no email, no install. The deal is ready when the page loads, and your streak is kept in your browser's local storage on your own device. The free iOS and Android app adds offline play and progress that follows you between devices; the browser version is the complete game, not a trial.

Does It Work on Phone and Tablet?

Yes. Seven columns fit a phone screen without sideways scrolling, and every move is one tap — tap the card, tap where it goes. The same works with a mouse on desktop. Undo is always one tap away, which matters more here than in most card games.

More free solitaire games

Want a different challenge? Try Golf Solitaire, where every deal is winnable, or Forty Thieves Solitaire, a hard two-deck build from Ace to King. All free online, no download.