What is Turn 3 Solitaire?
Turn 3 Solitaire, also called Klondike Draw 3, is classic Klondike with one change: the stock deals three cards at a time instead of one, and only the top card of the three can be played. The layout, the goal and every other rule stay the same: move all 52 cards to the four foundations by suit, from Ace up to King. It was the default mode of the Solitaire that shipped with Windows for years, and many seasoned players consider it the real game.
Play Turn 3 Solitaire free, with no sign-up, right in the browser on your phone, tablet or computer. You get hints, undo, winnable deals and a timer. Your game saves itself, and Turn 1 opens in a tab of its own, so your Turn 3 hand always waits where you left it.
Turn 3 Solitaire rules
Only the stock works differently:
- Three cards at a time. Tap the stock and three cards fan out onto the waste. If fewer than three are left, you get the ones that remain.
- Only the top card plays. Of the three cards turned over, only the top one is available. Play it, and the card beneath it becomes available, and so on down.
- Go through the stock again. When the stock runs out, tap it again: the waste turns back over in the same order and you deal threes once more. You can go through the stock as many times as you like.
Everything else works as in Turn 1 Solitaire: build down the tableau in alternating colors, fill empty columns only with Kings, and build the foundations up by suit from Ace to King.
Turn 3 vs Turn 1
In Turn 1 you see every stock card on every pass. In Turn 3 you only reach every third one: the 3rd, the 6th, the 9th and so on. The rest sit beneath them and come within reach only once the card on top is played. So the card you are waiting for can stay buried in the middle of a three pass after pass, and every card you play from the waste changes which cards come up next time.
How hard is Turn 3 Solitaire?
Noticeably harder than Turn 1. With fewer stock cards in reach, more deals end in a dead end, and winning depends more on planning than on luck. For a gentler game, try Turn 1 Solitaire; to skip hopeless deals, choose Winnable hand in the New game menu: every such deal was solved by computer in advance.
Turn 3 Solitaire strategy
The general Klondike tips still apply, but dealing in threes calls for a few habits of its own:
- Tableau first, then the stock. Before you deal, make every useful move on the tableau. Each new three covers the cards before it, so turn to the stock once the tableau has nothing left to give.
- Learn what the stock gives you. As long as you play nothing from the waste, the same cards come up on top on every pass. Treat the first pass as a scouting run: note which cards you can reach and plan when to use them.
- Shift the threes. Every card you play from the waste changes how the stock splits into threes on the next pass, so different cards come up on top. Sometimes it pays to play a card from the waste just to get at one that was hiding.
- Sometimes leave the waste alone. It works the other way too: if a card you need already comes up on top every pass, an extra play from the waste can bury it in the middle of a three. Before you take from the waste, think about what changes on the next pass.
- Turn over face-down cards. As in Turn 1, the most valuable moves are the ones that flip a face-down card in the tableau: each one opens new options, and a stock dealt in threes gives you few.
- Lean on Hint and Undo. Hint shows a move you have missed, and Undo lets you go back and try another order. That matters most in Turn 3, where a single play from the waste changes every pass that follows.
Questions and answers
Which is harder, Turn 1 or Turn 3 Solitaire?
Turn 3. When the stock deals three cards at a time, only every third card is in reach, so you have fewer moves and the card you need is more often buried under others. In Turn 1 every stock card comes to the top sooner or later.
Can every Turn 3 deal be won?
No. As in Turn 1, some deals cannot be solved however well you play, and Turn 3 has more of them. To play only deals that have a solution, choose Winnable hand in the New game menu, or an easy, medium or hard hand under By difficulty. If your game reaches a dead end, we tell you and offer to go back to the last move from which it could still be won.
How many times can you go through the stock?
As many as you like. When the stock is empty, tap it: the waste turns back over and you can deal threes again. The first three passes are free; each one after that costs 20 points.
How is Turn 3 Solitaire scored?
As in Turn 1: 10 points for each card moved to a foundation, 5 for a card moved from the waste to the tableau and 5 for each face-down card turned over; moving a card back from a foundation costs 15. Only recycling the stock differs: in Turn 1 each pass costs 100 points, while in Turn 3 the first three are free and each after that costs 20. The score never drops below zero, and a win adds a speed bonus.
How do I switch to Turn 1?
Tap Turn 1 above the board: Turn 1 opens in its own tab, and this Turn 3 hand pauses and waits here. Come back any time by switching to this tab or tapping Turn 3.
More solitaires
Besides Klondike in Turn 1 and Turn 3, пасьянс.укр has FreeCell, the solitaire where every card is face up and nearly every hand can be won, and Spider in one, two and four suits, played with two decks.