Rules for SpiderCells

Family: FreeCell
Categories: Popular, Thinker's, Rewarding
Variants: Baker's Game,Free Cell,Tough Sell
Also Known As:

SpiderCells is a variant of the immensely popular Free Cell. Unlike Free Cell where the vast majority of games are winnable, SpiderCells offers a much more difficult challenge. Don't expect to win every game!

Layout

Shuffle the deck and lay out all the cards in eight tableau piles, face up and fanned down. Four of the tableaus will have seven cards each, the remaining four only six cards each. Above the tableaus are four free cells, which start out empty. Unlike the original Free Cell, there are no foundation piles.

Play

Tableaus build down, alternating color. Top cards of tableaus are available for play on other tableaus or onto the free cells. Any available card may be played to an empty tableau.

An empty free cell can hold any card, but each can hold only one card at a time; and of course such cards can be removed only by correctly playing them back onto a tableau.

Goal

The goal is to arrange all cards into four tableaus, each in a single suit and in order from King to Ace.

Tips

As in all games of this type, empty piles are tremendously important. You have four free cells to start with, which isn’t always a lot. Be a little bit careful in how you use the free cells. It’s best to fill a free cell only when you already know how to get that card out of the free cell again. Of course you won’t always be able to do that, and sometimes you’ll have to put a card in a free cell “until further notice.” When you have to do that, it’s a good time to place a bookmark at your position in case you never find a way to remove the card again.

An empty tableau acts like a free cell--only better, because you can build on the tableau. Conserve the free cells by moving multiple cards from the free cells into a single empty tableau when you can. (The cards you move will have to be in sequence, of course, so you won’t always be able to do this. But it’s great when you can!)

As a shortcut Solitaire Till Dawn will let you move full or partial builds provided you have enough empty piles available to have accomplished the same move one card at a time.