Spider is a type of patience game, and is one of the more popular two-deck solitaire games. The game originates in 1949, and its name comes from a spider's eight legs, referencing the eight foundation piles that must be filled to win the game. Rules The main purpose of the game is to remove all cards from the table, assembling them in the tableau before removing them. Initially, 54 cards are dealt to the tableau in ten piles, face down except for the top cards. The tableau piles build down by rank, and in-suit sequences can be moved together. The 50 remaining cards can be dealt to the tableau ten at a time when none of the piles are empty. A typical Spider layout requires the use of two decks. The Tableau consists of 10 stacks, with 6 cards in the first 4 stacks, with the 6th card face up, and 5 cards in the remaining 6 stacks, with the 5th card face up. Each time the stock is used it deals out one card to each stack. Variants Given its popularity, numerous Spider variants exist: Spider 2 Suit: Same as classic Spider solitaire, except this game is played with only 2 suits instead of 4, usually Spades and Hearts. Spider 1 Suit: Same as classic Spider solitaire, except this game is played with only 1 suit instead of 4, usually Spades. Relaxed Spider: Does not require all spaces to be filled before redealing Spiderette: Only one pack, a Klondike layout with 7 stacks ranging from 1 to 7 cards in each Will o' the Wisp is another solitaire card game which was invented by Geoffrey Mott-Smith and is played the same way as Spiderette. The exception is that on the onset, twenty-one cards are dealt into seven columns of three with only the top card of each column face-up. Simple Simon is another common one-deck variant of Spider. Mrs. Mop is a Spider relative in which all the cards are dealt face-up. Software Implementations Common software versions of Spider are included with versions of Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, ME and XP as Spider Solitaire. Spider Solitaire was introduced in the Microsoft Plus! 98 addition pack for Windows 98. The game comes in three versions: Easy or Beginner (with 8 Spade packs), Medium or Intermediate (with four packs each of Spades and Hearts), and Hard or Advanced (with two each