The objective of Black Hole Solitaire is for the "black hole", represented by the ace of spades in the center of the layout, to consume the contents of the 17 stacks surrounding it.

The black hole occupies the center of the layout and initially contains the ace of spades. The black hole will accept a card if its rank is one greater or one less than the rank of the card currently on top of it. The ranks wrap around so an ace can be placed on a king and vice versa. The suits of the cards are irrelevant. The game is won when all 51 cards have been captured by the black hole. The seventeen stacks surrounding the black hole all contain three cards at the beginning of the game. These stacks do not accept any cards.

If two stacks of varying height have the same rank on top, usually remove the card from the stack with more cards. Never move a card from a stack with only one card if there is a stack with multiple cards with the identical rank on top. At the start of a game find thirteen cards which are needed to complete a cycle and determine whether adding cards to the black hole in ascending or descending order makes more sense. After 13, 26 and 39 cards have been sent to the black hole (the status bar will read 39/13, 26/26 or 13/39) the order of ranks can be changed to ascending to descending or vice versa. Changing the order at any other time will result in an impossible game. If adding cards in ascending order, try to remove cards from stacks which have cards with greater ranks on top. If going in descending order, select stacks which have greater ranks below.