Rules
Simple Simon Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use one standard 52-card deck.
- Deal all cards face up into ten tableau columns.
- The column lengths are 8, 8, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.
- There is no stock, waste pile, reserve, redeal, or hidden card.
- Tableau cards build downward by rank regardless of suit: 7 can land on 8.
- A single top card can move if it fits the destination.
- A group can move only when every card in that group is descending in the same suit.
- Empty columns accept any movable card or movable same-suit sequence.
- Complete same-suit king-to-ace runs clear automatically.
- Win by clearing all four suit runs.
How to play
How to play Simple Simon Solitaire
Simple Simon Solitaire starts with a rare kind of honesty: every card is visible. The entire deck is dealt into ten face-up columns, and your job is to turn those uneven columns into four complete suit runs from king down to ace.
The tableau build rule is broad. A card may land on any exposed card one rank higher, regardless of suit. That means a 7 of hearts can go on an 8 of clubs, and a queen of spades can go on any king. The movement rule is narrower: if you want to move more than one card, the selected packet must already be descending in one suit.
That split is the heart of the game. Mixed-suit builds are legal and often useful, but they create weight. A clean suited sequence is mobile; a mixed stack may need to be peeled apart one card at a time before it can help finish a run.
Background
What is Simple Simon Solitaire?
Simple Simon is a one-deck member of the Spider family. It keeps Spider's satisfying goal of clearing king-to-ace suit runs, but removes the two-deck length, face-down cards, and stock rows. The result is a compact open-information puzzle that looks simple and then quietly asks for careful untangling.
It also sits near Scorpion and Beetle. Like Scorpion, it uses one deck and rewards suit-run planning. Like Beetle, it lets tableau cards build down by rank while requiring movable packets to stay in suit. Unlike both, this version has no draw pile at all: the opening tableau is the whole problem.
Setup
The Simple Simon layout on this page
- Columns one, two, and three each start with eight face-up cards.
- Column four starts with seven cards.
- Columns five through ten step down from six cards to one card.
- All cards are available to inspect immediately.
- Completed runs clear to the completed-runs count instead of staying in the tableau.
Deal
Why the 8-8-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 deal matters
The opening deal is deliberately uneven. Three long columns hold most of the congestion, while the shorter columns give you early places to build, park, and untangle. Because all cards are face up, the question is not "what will I reveal?" It is "which part of the mess should I make movable first?"
Columns 1-38 cards eachall face up
Column 47 cardsall face up
Columns 5-106, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1all face up
Stocknoneevery card starts in the tableau
The short right-side columns are not just easier places to play cards. They are potential work space. If you can empty one of them, the game opens dramatically because any movable card or suited sequence may move into that space.
Moves
The two-part move rule
A Simple Simon move has two tests. First, the leading card must fit the destination. A 6 can land on a 7, and a king can move only to an empty column because there is no rank above king. Suit does not matter for this landing test.
Second, the cards being carried must form one suited descending sequence. A 9-8-7 of diamonds can move together. A 9 of diamonds carrying an 8 of clubs cannot move as a packet, even though either card might be legal by itself in a different moment.
Legal7 of hearts onto 8 of clubs
Legal9-8 of spades onto any 10
LegalAny movable card or suited run into an empty column
Illegal7 onto 9
Illegal9 of hearts carrying 8 of spades as one packet
BlockedA buried card cannot move unless every card above it forms one suited descending sequence
Runs
What clears from the tableau?
A completed Simple Simon run is thirteen cards in one suit, ordered exactly from king down to ace. When this page finds such a run at the top of a column, it clears the run automatically and updates the run counter.
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Automatic clearing does not make the game easier in the rule sense. You still have to build the full suited sequence in the tableau first. Clearing simply removes finished work from the table so the remaining decisions are easier to read on a phone or laptop screen.
Spaces
How empty columns work
Empty columns are the main source of freedom. Unlike Klondike, they are not reserved for kings. Any movable card or suited sequence can move into an empty column, which makes a space useful for temporary parking and for lifting a clean packet away from a cluttered column.
A space is still easy to waste. Filling it with a card that has no useful follow-up may lock away the one flexible tool you had. Try to create a space with a specific purpose: freeing a buried connector, joining a long suited run, or breaking a mixed stack apart.
No stock
Why there is no draw pile
Simple Simon has no stock because every card is already in the tableau. There are no rescue cards coming later, but there are also no hidden surprises. The deal is a visible engineering problem from the opening position.
That changes the feel of the game. In Spider, a good stock row can save a weak tableau or spoil a strong one. In Simple Simon, progress comes from making the existing cards more mobile: clean suits, open spaces, and fewer mixed-suit tangles.
Strategy
Simple Simon Solitaire strategy that actually helps
Start by scanning for nearly clean suit fragments. A 10-9-8 of clubs is already valuable because it can move as a unit. A 10 of clubs sitting over a 9 of diamonds may still be a legal build, but it is not mobile as a pair. Early moves should make more of the tableau movable, not merely make it look lower-ranked.
Next, work toward an empty column. The first space often decides whether the deal becomes flexible or cramped. Use short columns to free cards, then use the space to move a clean suited sequence out of the way while you repair the column underneath.
Watch connectors carefully. If the 8 of spades is buried under a mixed packet, the 9 of spades cannot grow into a complete run until that 8 is freed. Legal moves that bury a rare connector can make a deal feel stuck even when many cards still appear movable.
Finally, do not rush to assemble one beautiful run while the rest of the board hardens. Clearing a full suit is excellent, but Simple Simon often rewards preparing two suits at once: one nearly finished run, one open column, and one backup sequence that can move when the first plan runs out of room.
Mistakes
Common Simple Simon Solitaire mistakes
- Building mixed suits too casually, then discovering the packet cannot move.
- Using an empty column without a plan for what it should unlock.
- Moving only top cards while ignoring longer same-suit fragments underneath.
- Burying an important connector under a card from another suit.
- Assuming the game is easy because all cards are visible.
- Chasing one suit so hard that the other three suits lose all movement.
Winnability
Is Simple Simon Solitaire winnable?
Simple Simon is not guaranteed winnable from a random shuffle. Open information helps you make better decisions, but it does not remove the core constraint: only suited descending packets can move together, and every suit has only one copy of each rank.
This page does not publish a win-rate claim because a useful number should come from this exact implementation and measured play. Undo and automatic run clearing affect practical difficulty, so borrowed statistics from another ruleset would not be reliable.
Difficulty
How difficult is Simple Simon?
Simple Simon is easier to read than many solitaire games because there are no face-down cards and no stock timing. It is harder than it first looks because a move can be legal for the front card while making the carried cards less useful. The challenge is not discovering cards; it is preserving mobility.
Players who enjoy FreeCell-style planning may like the openness, while Spider players will recognize the satisfaction of completing suit runs. It is a good middle game when you want a sequence puzzle shorter than Spider but more strategic than a quick removal game.
Variants
Simple Simon variants and house rules
The most important rule choices are whether empty columns accept any movable packet or only kings, whether completed runs clear automatically, and whether mixed-suit descending groups can move. This page uses the friendly and common open-tableau version: any movable packet may enter a space, runs clear automatically, and only same-suit descending sequences move as groups.
Some digital games group Simple Simon with Spider variants because the win condition is so similar. That is a useful mental model, but the no-stock layout changes the tactics. A Simple Simon deal is less about surviving new rows and more about deciding which visible knot to untie first.
Nearby games
How Simple Simon compares with Spider, Beetle, Scorpion, and Mrs. Mop
Spider uses two decks, hidden cards, and stock rows; Simple Simon uses one open deck and no stock. Beetle is closer because it builds down regardless of suit and moves suited sequences, but Beetle is a two-deck game with stock pressure. Scorpion is also one deck, yet its movement is almost opposite: Scorpion builds down by suit and can carry messy packets. Simple Simon builds down by rank and asks packets to stay suited.
Mrs. Mop is the larger open-tableau relative. It uses two decks and thirteen columns, so it turns the same suited-run idea into a longer sorting problem. If Simple Simon feels too compact, Mrs. Mop is a natural next step. If it feels too unforgiving, Spiderette or one-suit Spider adds stock rhythm and more ways for fresh cards to change the board.