Simple Simon Solitaire: Spider in miniature, with nothing hidden

Simple Simon is like a one-pack Spider with every card face up. You have ten columns of different lengths, no stock, and one goal: build each suit from King down to Ace inside the columns, where complete suits are cleared away. With all 52 cards visible from the start, it is a pure puzzle, and a good one for a short sit-down.

Our solver proved 86.5% of 3,000 deals winnable and 5.2% impossible, with the rest undecided. We will be upfront, though: our impossible share is higher than the published figure for this game, and we have not yet found out why. More on that below.

Simple Simon at a glance

So between 86.5% and 94.8% of deals can be won on this site's rules, by our count.

Simple Simon on solitaire-online.nz

Ten columns, from eight cards down to one

• Ten columns holding 8, 8, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 cards, all face up.
• No stock and no free cells.

Any-suit builds, same-suit moves

• Any card can go onto a card one rank higher, in any suit: any 5 on any 6.
• A run can only be moved as a group if it is all one suit. There is no limit on how long that run can be.
• Any card or same-suit run can go into an empty column.
• When a full same-suit run from King to Ace is complete, it is cleared automatically. Clear all four suits to win.

Our result, and the published one

A peer-reviewed study, Blake & Gent (2026), puts Simple Simon at 97.45% winnable, which would mean at most about 2.55% of deals are impossible. We proved 5.2% impossible, and even the low end of our range (4.4%) is above their figure.

Our result differs from the published one, and we have not yet found why. Here is what we have checked:

• We re-checked 6 of our "impossible" deals with a completely separate brute-force search, which agreed they cannot be won.
• One deal (seed 81) has no legal first move at all: no card on top of any column fits on any other.
• We built the rules exactly as this site's code has them, and as far as we can tell they match the rules described in the paper.

Until the difference is explained, treat our Simple Simon figures with some caution. The broad picture is not in doubt, though: most deals can be won, and a few cannot.

Playing a tidy game

Look for same-suit pairs

Only same-suit runs move as a group. On average our deals started with fewer than one same-suit pair already in place (0.76), so most of your runs will need building. Put cards on same-suit partners whenever you have the choice.

Empty the short columns first

The columns of 1, 2 and 3 cards are the quickest to clear. An empty column takes any card or run, and gives you room to sort mixed-suit stacks.

Mixed suits are fine for now, but not forever

Building in any suit is allowed, and useful for clearing space. But a mixed run cannot be moved as a group, so do not bury a card you will need under a long mixed run.

Work one suit towards completion

A finished K–A suit is cleared from the table, taking 13 cards out of your way. Pick the suit that is closest and focus on it.

Some deals really are hopeless

With every card visible, you can often spot a stuck deal early. Some deals, like seed 81 in our test, have no move at all from the start. Deal again.

Simple Simon on a phone or tablet

Ten columns fit on most phone screens because the short columns take little space. Tap a card or run, then its destination, and zoom in if needed. The game counts your moves and time for the current deal.

Simple Simon among the games that build whole suits

Three games on this site ask you to build complete suits from King to Ace in the columns: Simple Simon, Scorpion and Spider. Simple Simon sits at the friendly end. Our solver proved 86.5% of its deals winnable, while Scorpion, with same-suit building and Kings-only empty columns, managed 12.9% even when it could see every hidden card.

That makes Simple Simon a good way into this style of game. You learn to think in suits, to clear short columns for working space, and to value same-suit runs, all without hidden cards getting in the way. When that feels easy, one-suit Spider adds a second pack and a stock.

How we did the research, step by step

In September 2026 the solitaire-online.nz team added Simple Simon to its study, to see how many deals on this site's rules can be won.

1. Rules from the site code. Ten face-up columns of 8, 8, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1; building down in any suit; only same-suit runs move as a group, with no length limit; any card or run into an empty column; complete K–A suits cleared automatically.
2. A copy of the game. We wrote those rules into a program.
3. Numbered deals. 3,000 deals from seeds 1 to 3,000.
4. A solver. All cards are face up, so the solver plays the same game you do. It always looks at the most promising position next.
5. A limit per deal. Up to 200,000 positions. Deals not settled by then were counted as undecided.
6. A second opinion. A separate brute-force search re-checked 6 of the deals our solver called impossible, and agreed with all 6.
7. Published results. Blake & Gent (2026) report 97.45%. Our figures disagree, as explained above, and we have not found the cause.
8. Error bars. The 86.5% has a 95% range of 85.3% to 87.7%; the 5.2% impossible, 4.4% to 6.0%.

The technical side

Simple Simon runs in spiderlike.py, a Python 3.11 module (standard library only) shared with Scorpion. The solver is a best-first search: it rates each position, expands the best one next, and keeps a record of positions it has already seen. The cross-check script, verify_simplesimon_bruteforce.py, uses a separate exhaustive search. runner.py spread the deals across many processes using Python's multiprocessing; this was the heaviest run in the study, using about 33 hours of processor time in total. The 95% ranges are Wilson score intervals. Claude, an AI assistant developed by Anthropic, helped us write and review the code and draft this page. Every figure comes from running the code, and it is our own comparison with the published study that turned up the gap described above.

By Admin, solitaire-online.nz. Study date: 19 September 2026.

Short answers before your next deal

Are some Simple Simon deals impossible?

No. In our test 5.2% of deals were proven impossible, and one had no legal first move at all.

Why can I not move this run?

Only runs of a single suit move together. A run with mixed suits has to be taken apart card by card.

How close is Simple Simon to Spider?

Very. It builds full suits in the columns the same way, but with one pack and no hidden cards. Try Spider Solitaire for the two-pack version.

Is it a good game for a short break?

It can be. There is one pack, no stock and nothing hidden, so all the information you need is in front of you from the first move.

What else can I try?

Scorpion is a tougher cousin, and Flower Garden is another all-face-up puzzle. See every game on the games page.