Simple Simon: when you can see everything, planning is the whole game
Simple Simon plays by Spider's rules with one deck, and with one huge difference: every card is dealt face up and there is no stock. Nothing is hidden and nothing arrives later. Whatever happens in a game of Simple Simon is decided by the order in which you choose to move.
That makes it the cleanest place on the site to see what careful planning can achieve. Our solver, working through the exact rules used on spidersolitaireonline.us, found a winning line in 86.5% of 3,000 deals (95% range 85.3–87.7%). It proved 5.2% (4.4–6.0%) impossible, which means no strategy at all can rescue them, and left 8.3% (7.4–9.3%) undecided within its search limit.
We did not build a simple, non-planning player for Simple Simon, so we cannot say how much a greedy approach would lose. We can say how much room good planning has, and how little the deal hands you for free.
At a glance: what planning can and cannot do
| Measure | Result | 95% range | Deals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solved by careful search (every card visible) | 86.5% | 85.3–87.7% | 3,000 |
| Proven impossible, whatever you do | 5.2% | 4.4–6.0% | 3,000 |
| Undecided within 200,000 positions | 8.3% | 7.4–9.3% | 3,000 |
| Same-suit links already in place when dealt | 0.76 | 0.73–0.79 | 3,000 |
The last row is the one that matters for strategy. A fresh deal starts with fewer than one card, on average, sitting on the next-higher card of its own suit. In other words, almost all of the order that wins the game has to be built by you. A good plan turns a table with 0.76 same-suit links into four completed suits in at least 86.5% of deals.
Because every card is visible, our solver's wins are true wins on these rules, not a ceiling that needs hidden knowledge. A person who plans as thoroughly could in principle win the same deals.
The rules as played on spidersolitaireonline.us
- Deck: one 52-card deck, every card face up.
- Tableau: ten columns. The first three hold eight cards, then each column holds one fewer, down to a single card.
- No stock: all cards are dealt at the start.
- Building: any card on a card one rank higher, of any suit.
- Moving runs: a descending run of one suit moves as a block, of any length. Mixed runs must be taken apart.
- Empty columns: any card or same-suit run may fill them.
- Clearing suits: a full King-to-Ace run in one suit is removed automatically. Clear all four to win.
Planning habits that pay off
Plan the first empty column before your first move
The three right-hand columns hold one, two and three cards. Work out which one you can clear fastest, and in what order. An empty column is the most flexible tool on the table.
Add same-suit links, not just legal moves
With only 0.76 same-suit links to start, every one you create is progress. Any-suit builds are useful for getting cards out of the way, but only same-suit runs move as a block and only same-suit runs clear.
Work on one suit at a time
Pick the suit that is least buried and drive it to completion. Removing thirteen cards changes the whole table.
Keep a space in reserve
Use an empty column to rearrange, then empty it again. A card left parked in a gap throws away your best tool.
Rewind freely
With everything visible, Undo costs nothing. Try a sequence, see where it leads, and take it back if it jams.
Recognize a dead deal
About one deal in twenty was proven impossible. If you have tried several different plans and every one stalls, starting a new deal is a reasonable choice.
Playing here
Simple Simon on spidersolitaireonline.us is free in any modern browser on computer, tablet or phone, with no account and no download. Undo as far back as you like, plus Hint, Restart and Auto Play. Zoom and fullscreen help with ten columns, cards move by drag or tap, and a counter shows wins, time and moves. Sound and table color are in the settings.
How we ran the study
The spidersolitaireonline.us team ran this test in September 2026, on this site's own rules.
- Read the rules from the Simple Simon branch of our Spider engine: every card face up in ten stepped columns, any-suit building, same-suit runs moving with no length cap, any card into a gap, finished suits removed automatically.
- Wrote the game in Python 3.11, standard library only, in a module (
spiderlike.py) it shares with Scorpion. - Dealt 3,000 numbered hands, seeds 1 to 3,000, so every deal can be replayed.
- Ran a best-first solver with up to 200,000 positions per deal. It always expands the most promising position and never revisits one.
- Sorted each deal into solved, proven impossible or undecided, and counted same-suit links in each starting layout.
- Compared with published research. Blake and Gent (2026) estimate Simple Simon at 97.450% winnable, which implies no more than about 2.55% impossible. We proved 5.2% impossible. We do not yet know why the figures differ. A separate brute-force program re-checked six of our impossible deals and confirmed each one; one has no legal first move at all. As far as we can tell our rules match the paper's, so please treat our Simple Simon figures as provisional.
- Added 95% ranges (Wilson score intervals for rates, a normal interval for the average).
Claude, an AI assistant from Anthropic, helped write and check the solver and draft this page. Every figure comes from running the code, and the team reviewed them before publishing.
Questions
Is every Simple Simon deal winnable with good play?
No. Our solver proved 5.2% impossible. For the rest, careful play is what separates a win from a stall.
How is this different from Spider?
One deck, no stock, and nothing face down. In one-suit Spider you plan around hidden cards; here you can plan the whole game.
Can a mixed-suit run move as one?
No. Only same-suit runs move as a block.
Where next?
For hidden cards, try two-suit Spider. For a much harsher cousin on the same engine, try Scorpion. Every game is on the games page, with more on the blog.
By Admin, spidersolitaireonline.us (Solitairen OOD). Research run September 2026.