♠ Solitars

(Eight Off)

10 C
A D
A S
7 D
♠♥♦♣
♠♥♦♣
♠♥♦♣
♠♥♦♣
Q H
6 C
J H
J S
5 C
6 D
Q C
3 C
7 S
4 D
10 D
10 H
2 C
9 D
Q S
4 S
J C
8 D
9 S
2 H
5 S
2 D
7 C
K D
5 D
8 S
9 H
4 H
K S
2 S
J D
Q D
K H
9 C
3 S
5 H
A C
10 S
3 H
6 S
8 H
7 H
4 C
6 H
K C
3 D
A H
8 C

How to play Eight Off

A FreeCell relative with eight free cells (four filled at the start) and suit building. One of the most solvable solitaires there is.

History & origin of Eight Off

FreeCell was created by Paul Alfille in 1978, who programmed it on PLATO — the University of Illinois’ pioneering educational computer system, one of the first with graphical, color displays. Alfille started from an older game called Baker’s Game (which builds by suit) and switched the rule to alternating colors, which made nearly every deal winnable.

That change gave FreeCell its identity: with all cards in view and almost always a solution, it became the solitaire of pure reasoning — if you lose, you lose to a mistake, not to bad luck.

Worldwide fame came through Jim Horne, who wrote a Windows version; Microsoft went on to ship FreeCell with Windows (from the Entertainment Pack to Windows 95), putting it on millions of computers.

Facts about Eight Off

  • Almost every FreeCell deal is solvable. Of the 32,000 numbered games in Microsoft’s classic version, only one — number 11,982 — has been proven impossible to win.
  • Because it rewards calculation and patience, FreeCell was informally used as a “focus test” — and back then people joked that running it tested the PC’s memory.
  • Unlike Klondike, there is no luck of the draw here: the whole deck is face-up from the very start.
  • The more free cells and empty columns you keep, the larger the group of cards you can move in a single go.

How to play Eight Off step by step

  1. Goal: bring all 52 cards to the four foundations by suit, Ace to King.
  2. There are eight free cells (four filled at the start) — plenty of support space.
  3. In the tableau, stack down in the same suit.
  4. Empty columns take only Kings.
  5. With so many cells, move larger sequences at once; it is one of the most solvable solitaires there is.
  6. Move the cards to the foundations by suit, using the cells to dig out whatever is stuck.