There is no single solitaire scoring system. That surprises people who assume they know how solitaire is scored because they have played one version of it. Klondike — the game that shipped with Windows — uses a points formula involving foundation moves and a time bonus. Vegas Klondike replaces all of that with a dollar-based gambling ledger. Spider starts at 500 and counts down. TriPeaks rewards streaks. Golf rewards speed. Pyramid rewards the value of cards you match.
Each system reflects what the game is actually about — and understanding the scoring in each variant will change how you play it.
Klondike Solitaire Scoring
Klondike has more scoring variants than any other solitaire game. Here’s how I set it up for Card & Puzzle.
Standard Scoring
The standard scoring system used in Klondike Solitaire at Card & Puzzle works like this:
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Move card from waste to tableau | +5 |
| Move any card to a foundation | +10 |
| Flip a face-down tableau card | +5 |
| Move a card back from foundation to tableau | −10 |
The penalty for moving a card back from a foundation is deliberate. It discourages the otherwise useful tactic of cycling cards through the foundation to manipulate the tableau — a move that is strategically valuable but should carry a cost.
On top of the base points, a time bonus is awarded when you win: 700,000 divided by your completion time in seconds. Finish in 4 minutes (240 seconds) and you earn roughly 2,916 bonus points on top of your move score. The time bonus only applies if the game lasts more than 30 seconds — a threshold that prevents manipulated scores on instant-win scenarios.
A fully played-out winning game with solid mechanics might land somewhere between 500 and 1,200 base points before the time bonus. The time bonus is typically the bigger number for fast players.
Vegas Scoring
Vegas scoring is a traditional variant — not available on Card & Puzzle, but widely used in classic Windows and casino versions of Klondike. Instead of points, you track dollars:
- Buy-in: −$52 at the start (representing a $1-per-card wager on the deck)
- Per card to foundation: +$5
With 52 cards in a complete game, a perfect win returns $260 — giving you a net profit of $208. That sounds achievable until you realize that winning Klondike at all requires navigating a genuinely difficult game where roughly 18% of deals are unwinnable under standard rules.
In a real Vegas casino context, Turn 3 was the standard mode. Under Turn 3 rules, the inaccessibility of stock cards means most players clear far fewer than 52 cards — making the house edge substantial. Vegas scoring was never meant to reward players; it was designed to attract them with the promise of profit while delivering it rarely.
For a direct comparison of the two draw modes, see Turn 1 vs Turn 3.
Does Turn 1 vs Turn 3 Affect Scoring?
The standard point values are the same in both modes — the same +5, +10, and −10 rules apply regardless of draw mode. The difference shows up in outcomes: Turn 1 games produce more tableau flips and more foundation moves because more cards are accessible, so winning scores tend to be higher. Turn 3 games are harder to win at all, which means the time bonus — earned only on a completed game — is rarer.
Spider Solitaire Scoring
Spider Solitaire uses a count-down model that directly penalizes inefficiency. The scoring system is:
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Starting score | 500 |
| Each move (including undos) | −1 |
| Complete a King-to-Ace suited sequence | +100 |
| Finish in under 20 minutes | +100 |
| Finish in under 10 minutes | +200 |
The theoretical ceiling for a perfect game is 500 minus the number of moves you make plus 800 (eight completed sequences at 100 points each). If you complete the game in 40 moves and finish in under 10 minutes: 500 − 40 + 800 + 200 = 1,460. In practice, winning games take well over 100 moves, so a realistic top score for a skilled player is more like 1,100 to 1,200.
This system punishes undo-heavy play. Each undo costs a point, same as a regular move. Players who habitually undo and retry moves will find their score eroding even if they eventually win. The intended discipline is forward-thinking play — commit to moves you are confident in rather than experimenting and reversing.
Difficulty level does not change the base scoring formula in Spider. A 1-Suit win and a 4-Suit win use the same rules. But 4-Suit games take dramatically more moves to resolve, so winning scores in 4-Suit are typically lower despite the higher difficulty — a useful reminder that the scoring system rewards efficient play, not just completion.
FreeCell Solitaire Scoring
FreeCell Solitaire takes a narrower approach — it only awards points for foundation moves and time. Tableau reorganization earns nothing.
| Action | Points (first 2 min) | Points (after 2 min) |
|---|---|---|
| Move card to foundation | +20 | +10 |
| Move card back from foundation | −20 | −10 |
| All other moves | 0 | 0 |
The two-minute threshold creates a natural incentive: if you are making quick progress, the higher early-game rate rewards it. Slow games not only lose the time bonus — they also earn half the foundation points.
The same 700,000-divided-by-seconds time bonus from Klondike applies here, awarded only for wins in games lasting more than 30 seconds.
FreeCell’s scoring design aligns with the game’s identity: this is a pure strategy game where all cards are visible from the first move. The scoring system reflects that by ignoring the tactical moves (free cell parking, column rearrangements) that make up most of the work, and only rewarding the final act of getting cards home. Efficiency is what matters — the fastest path to all 52 foundation cards.
Pyramid Solitaire Scoring
Pyramid Solitaire scores differently from every other game in this group because the points are embedded in the cards themselves — not in the act of moving them.
Card point values:
- Number cards (Ace through 10): face value (Ace = 1, 2 = 2, and so on)
- Face cards (Jack, Queen, King): 10 points each
Every pair you successfully remove from the pyramid contributes the combined value of both cards. Removing a King alone contributes 10 points. The maximum possible card score from a complete board clear is 340 points.
The time bonus adds up to 325 points for clearing the entire pyramid in under 30 seconds, decreasing linearly to 0 for games that take 5 minutes or more. No time bonus is awarded at all if you fail to clear the pyramid.
Pyramid’s scoring system creates an interesting strategic dimension: not all pairs are equal. Removing a 9 and a 4 earns 13 points; removing a Queen and an Ace earns 13 points (12 + 1). Same pairing rule, same total — but the choice of which pair to remove first is often what determines whether you can access the cards you need later. The scoring does not guide you toward the better pairing; it rewards you equally for any valid pair.
Golf Solitaire Scoring
Golf Solitaire ties its score directly to how completely you clear the board.
Basic points:
- Each card moved from tableau to waste: +5 points
- Maximum possible from card moves: 175 points (35 tableau cards × 5 points)
Time bonus:
- Requires clearing all 35 tableau cards to qualify
- Full 325-point bonus for completion in 30 seconds or less
- Decreases linearly to 0 for games taking 5 minutes or more
- No bonus if you fail to clear the board
The maximum possible score is 500 points: 175 from card moves plus 325 from the time bonus.
The key design choice here is that the time bonus requires a complete clear. A player who moves 30 out of 35 cards earns 150 points from those moves and nothing else. A player who clears all 35 in 4 minutes earns 175 plus a partial time bonus. This creates a hard incentive to find the lines that clear the board rather than settling for a high-but-incomplete game.
Golf’s scoring is the most binary of all the games here: you are either building toward a potential time bonus or you are not, and that question is answered by whether you can clear the board at all.
TriPeaks Solitaire Scoring
TriPeaks Solitaire uses the most interesting scoring system in this group — a streak multiplier that rewards consecutive card plays.
Streak scoring:
- Each card played to the waste earns 1 base point plus points equal to your current streak count
- Card 1 in a streak: 1 + 1 = 2 points
- Card 2: 1 + 2 = 3 points
- Card 3: 1 + 3 = 4 points
- Drawing from the stock resets your streak to zero
Peak bonuses:
- Clearing a complete peak: +15 points
- All three peaks cleared: up to 45 points total
Time bonus:
- Requires clearing all tableau cards
- Up to 600 points for completion in 30 seconds or less
- Decreases linearly to 0 for games taking 10 minutes or more
The streak mechanic is what separates TriPeaks from Golf mechanically. In Golf, each card move is worth the same 5 points regardless of context. In TriPeaks, a 12-card unbroken chain is worth 2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13 = 90 points — dramatically more than a broken sequence of single-card plays. This is why experienced TriPeaks players will sometimes skip an available move to draw from stock instead, sacrificing points now to preserve a card that will extend a longer chain later.
That strategic tension — when to break a streak intentionally versus when to ride it — is the game’s real skill ceiling.
Which Solitaire Scoring System Is Best?
Each system rewards a different kind of excellence:
Move-based scoring (Spider) rewards efficiency above everything else. Every action has a cost, and the only way to outscore another player is to win in fewer moves. It’s the most honest measure of skill — the player who planned better wins more points, period.
Foundation-weighted scoring (Klondike, FreeCell) focuses on completion and speed. The tactical work in the middle of the game earns nothing; the reward comes at the end for getting cards home quickly. This design keeps the player focused on the goal rather than on micro-optimizing intermediate positions.
Chain/streak scoring (TriPeaks, Golf) rewards reading ahead. The best scores go to players who can see 10 or 15 moves into a sequence before committing to the first card. It is cognitively demanding in a different way from move-based scoring — pattern recognition over calculation.
Card-value scoring (Pyramid) ties the score to the cards themselves, making every removal equally costly as an opportunity. It is the most luck-influenced system of the group, since the card values you are working with are fixed by the deal.
Vegas scoring (traditional Klondike variant) rewards nothing but winning. You either profit or you do not. There is no partial credit, no bonus for elegant play, no consolation for an efficient loss. It is brutal and simple, which is exactly what a gambling format requires.
Tips for Higher Solitaire Scores
A few principles apply regardless of which scoring system you are playing under.
Speed matters in every game that has a time bonus. Klondike, FreeCell, Golf, Pyramid, and TriPeaks all award a 700,000-or-lower divided-by-seconds bonus (or a linear time bonus) for fast completions. If you know you have a won game, move quickly. Deliberating over the last few foundation moves costs real points.
Minimize unnecessary moves in Spider. Every undo, every speculative move you reverse, every card you park in a wrong column before correcting it — all of these cost points at 1 point per move. Spider’s score is the only one in this group where every individual action has a direct cost, so thinking before moving is worth more here than anywhere else.
Build streaks in TriPeaks before drawing from stock. A six-card streak is worth 27 points. Six independent single draws with stock resets between them are worth 12 points. The difference is the streak multiplier, and the difference compounds as streaks grow longer. Preserve your waste card strategically — leave middle-value cards (7s, 8s) on the waste when possible, since they connect to more ranks.
Clear the pyramid methodically in Pyramid. The time bonus requires clearing the entire board. A game where you have cleared 24 of 28 cards earns you 0 bonus points — same as a game where you cleared zero. The time bonus cliff is steep, so commit to lines that clear the board rather than optimizing for high-value pairs that leave the pyramid incomplete.
Avoid foundation reversals in Klondike. Moving a card to the foundation earns +10 points; moving it back costs −10. The round trip nets zero, but you have lost time — and time is points via the time bonus. Use reversals sparingly, and only when the strategic benefit of having that card back in the tableau clearly outweighs the scoring cost.
For a broader look at how the games compare in difficulty — which affects how often you can actually score at all — see the solitaire difficulty ranking.