Solitaire is one of the most popular card games, but do you also know its history? Solitaire has been around since the 18th century, when it first appeared in a written text. Other well-known games are Spider Solitaire, FreeCell, Pyramid Solitaire, Golf Solitaire, Tri Peaks and Forty Thieves. We all know the classic solitaire variant, officially known as Klondike Solitaire, in which you build cards on the tableau according to alternate colors. Our page with solitaire types and families classifies the most common solitaire games according to their type and family. The type of gameplay can also be used to classify solitaire games (builders, packers, non-builders). There are different solitaire game types, depending on whether all cards are visible at the start or not (closed games, half-open games, open games).
These are of course all played with one or multiple decks of playing cards, but there are also other commonalities between certain games. Over 500 different solitaire variants exist. We have definitions for the most common terms on our solitaire terminology page. There are multiple specific terms that are used in texts about solitaire, such as stock, waste pile, tableau, foundations and more. Play free online solitaire games Solitaire terminology
