Klondike (Draw Three)

Draw-three is Klondike with the stock rationed. Same seven columns, same alternating colours, same four foundations — but the stock turns three cards at a time and only the top one can be played, so two out of every three cards are visible and unreachable.

That single change is why this is the version people find hard. In draw-one the stock is a steady supply; here it is a rotating puzzle you have to unpick in order, and buried cards may only become available several passes later, if at all. It is the standard scoring form of the game for exactly that reason.

Everything is standard Klondike — seven columns of ascending length, build down in alternating colours, four foundations up by suit, Kings into empty columns. The one change is the stock: it turns three cards at a time and only the topmost of the three is playable. Getting at the card underneath means playing the one above it first, or cycling the whole stock around again, and depending on the variation you may have unlimited passes or only three.

Draw-three turns the stock from a resource into a puzzle of its own. The cards come round in a fixed order, so it is worth tracking which cards sit in which triplet — playing one card out of a triplet changes what is available on the next pass, and that is the main lever you have. Because the stock is much less useful, tableau play matters more: uncover face-down cards aggressively and hold empty columns for Kings you can actually use. Wikipedia's 18-43% range for Klondike overall sits at its lower end here, so expect to lose more of these than the draw-one game.