You've conquered standard Spider Solitaire. Maybe you're winning consistently in 2-suit mode, or you've finally cracked the 4-suit puzzle. Either way, you're looking for something new. Good news: the Spider family tree has plenty of branches worth exploring.

These spider solitaire variations share DNA with the classic game but change up the rules in ways that'll make you think differently about card sequencing, tableau management, and strategic planning. Some are easier than standard Spider. Others will make 4-suit look like a warm-up exercise.

Let's walk through the most popular variants, starting with the ones you can pick up in five minutes and moving to the more demanding challenges.

Spiderette Solitaire: The Single-Deck Spider

If you've ever wanted a quicker Spider experience, Spiderette solitaire is your answer. It takes the core Spider mechanics and condenses them into a single 52-card deck. Think of it as Spider's little sibling, perfect for coffee breaks or when you don't have 20 minutes to commit to a full game.

How Spiderette Works

The layout borrows heavily from Klondike Solitaire, which might feel familiar if that's where you started your solitaire journey. You'll deal out 7 columns in a cascading pattern: 1 card in the first column, 2 in the second, 3 in the third, and so on up to 7 cards in the final column. Only the top card of each column is face-up.

The remaining 24 cards form your stockpile. When you run out of moves, you deal one card to each of the 7 columns (not 10 like in standard Spider).

Why Players Love It

Spiderette games typically last 5 to 10 minutes instead of 15 to 30. The smaller board means less complexity, but don't mistake it for easy. With only one deck, you've got exactly one of each card to work with. There's no backup Queen of Hearts waiting in the stockpile to save you.

It's excellent practice for understanding suit management in a lower-stakes environment before tackling 4-suit Spider.

Scorpion Solitaire: Move Any Group

Scorpion solitaire looks almost identical to Spider at first glance. Seven columns, face-down cards, King-to-Ace sequences. But there's one rule change that transforms everything: you can move any group of cards, regardless of sequence.

The Scorpion Difference

In standard Spider, you can only move cards as a group if they form a continuous same-suit sequence. Got a 9-8-7-6 of Hearts sitting on a King of Clubs? Those Hearts move together. But if there's a stray Diamond mixed in, you're stuck moving cards one at a time.

Scorpion throws that restriction out the window. See a 10 of Spades buried under three random cards? Pick up the whole pile and move it onto any Jack. Yes, all of it. At once.

Strategy Shift

This freedom sounds like it makes the game easier. It doesn't. The catch is that you must build in suit from the start. In Spider, you can temporarily stack a Heart on a Spade to clear space. In Scorpion, that's not an option. Every move must place a card on the next-higher card of the same suit.

The result is a different kind of puzzle. You're not managing mixed-suit sequences anymore. You're excavating, digging through piles to uncover the cards you need while keeping your options open.

Simple Simon: No Stockpile, Pure Strategy

If you hate the randomness of the stockpile in Spider, Simple Simon might become your new obsession. All 52 cards are dealt face-up at the start. Every decision is based on perfect information.

The Setup

Simple Simon uses 10 columns like Spider, but the distribution is different. The first column gets 8 cards, the second gets 7, then 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1. That's all 52 cards on the table, every single one visible from the first move.

Pure Puzzle Territory

Without hidden cards or a stockpile, Simple Simon becomes a pure logic puzzle. You can theoretically solve it through perfect analysis alone. In practice, the solution paths are complex enough that you'll still make mistakes, but at least you can't blame bad luck.

Win rates for skilled players are actually quite high compared to 4-suit Spider, making this a satisfying choice when you want a challenge that rewards careful thinking over fortunate dealing.

Will o' the Wisp: Spiderette's Tougher Cousin

Take Spiderette, make it harder. That's Will o' the Wisp. The layout looks similar to Spiderette, but the rules around movement and empty columns create a more restrictive experience.

The key difference from Spiderette is starting with all cards face-up in shorter columns. You see more of the board immediately but have less room to maneuver. It's a compact, demanding puzzle that rewards players who've already mastered the basics.

Black Widow: Mixed-Suit Movement Allowed

If Scorpion's suit restrictions frustrated you, Black Widow offers a compromise. It's essentially Scorpion with relaxed movement rules, allowing you to place cards on any card one rank higher, regardless of suit.

This creates gameplay that feels closer to standard Spider. You can stack different suits to clear space, but you'll still need to sort things out eventually to complete your sequences. It's a nice middle ground between the strict suit requirements of Scorpion and the full flexibility of regular Spider.

Which Variation Should You Try First?

Your choice depends on what you're looking for: