How to Play Simple Simon Solitaire
Simple Simon is played with 1 standard 52-card deck. Every card begins face up in the tableau, so there is no stock, waste pile or hidden card to reveal. You build downward by rank, move ordered same-suit packets together and win by removing 4 complete King-to-Ace suits.
Building and moving follow different rules. An off-suit 7 may sit on any 8, but those 2 cards cannot be picked up together later. The examples below use certified deals from our playable Simple Simon Solitaire table, so the distinction appears in real positions rather than isolated card diagrams.
Setup: 10 Columns and No Stock
Shuffle the deck and deal all 52 cards face up into 10 columns. Columns 1, 2 and 3 receive 8 cards each. Column 4 receives 7 cards, then the remaining columns receive 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 cards. No cards are held back. The 4 spaces above the table record suits after a full King-to-Ace sequence has been completed.
The uneven deal matters from the first turn. The long left-hand columns contain more cards to untangle. The short columns on the right can often be cleared earlier, which creates the temporary space needed to work on the deeper piles. Since all cards are exposed, you can locate every rank before choosing an opening move.
Build Down by 1 Rank
A single card may be placed on a card exactly 1 rank higher. Any 8 can receive any 7. A Queen can receive any Jack. Suit and color do not affect whether this individual placement is legal. An Ace is the bottom of a descending run and cannot receive another card. A King has no higher rank to land on, so it normally moves only to an empty column.
This rank-only rule gives you many possible landings. It does not mean the resulting cards become 1 movable group. If the 7 of hearts is placed on the 8 of clubs, the 7 can be lifted again by itself. The 8 and 7 cannot travel together because their suits differ.
Only Same-Suit Descending Packets Travel Together
Several cards can move in 1 action when every neighboring pair descends by 1 rank and every card shares the same suit. The Jack, 10, 9 and 8 of diamonds form a legal 4-card packet. Select the Jack and all 4 cards move. If the 7 of spades sits below the diamond 8, it is not part of that packet. Select the 7 to move it alone, or move the diamond packet and leave the spade behind.
On desktop, drag the highest card of the packet to its destination. You can also select the card and then select the receiving column. On a phone or tablet, tap-to-move is usually easier when several cards overlap: tap the packet's highest card, check the highlighted group and tap the target column.
Where a Movable Packet Can Land
To place a packet, compare its highest card with the receiving card. A packet headed by a 9 can land on any 10. The 10's suit does not matter, and the cards below the 9 remain attached because their internal order has not changed.
The position below has the Queen of hearts directly above the Jack of clubs. That placement is legal because the ranks descend by 1. It is not a 2-card packet. Selecting the Jack moves only the Jack; to move the Queen, the Jack must first be placed somewhere else.
Any Available Card Can Fill an Empty Column
Clearing a tableau column creates a space that accepts any single card or any legal same-suit packet. There is no King-only restriction. This differs from Scorpion Solitaire, where an empty space must begin with a King. In Simple Simon, even a low card may enter if moving it serves a clear purpose.
Use a vacancy for a specific transfer. It can hold 1 blocking card while 2 suit fragments are joined, or take a short packet out of a long column so the next card becomes playable. Avoid filling it with a mixed pile that cannot leave in 1 move. Before using the space, identify where its temporary occupant will go next.
Complete a Suit from King Through Ace
Once all 13 ranks of 1 suit meet in descending order, from King through Ace, the run leaves the tableau automatically. There is no separate foundation move to make. The game ends when all 4 suited runs have been removed.
Removing a suit can free most of a column at once. Before making the last join, check whether its King, Queen or Jack is the only landing available to another packet. Make that transfer first when it releases an important card, then finish the run.
Read the Opening Before Moving
Begin by locating the 4 Aces and the low cards directly above them. Aces do not need to move early, but they show where each suit must eventually finish. Next, find same-suit joins that are already 1 move apart. Joining a 6 and 5 of clubs is more useful than making an arbitrary mixed 6-on-7 build because the club pair becomes a movable unit.
Then inspect the 3 shortest columns. Count how many moves would clear each one without dismantling a useful packet. The shortest column is not always the quickest vacancy. A 2-card column with both cards blocked by rank may take longer to empty than a 4-card column that contains 2 ready-made transfers.
Middle-Game Priorities
Work on 2 goals at the same time: reduce the number of mixed-suit breaks and protect at least 1 column that can be cleared. If every move only lengthens an existing pile, the board may look tidier while losing mobility. A stronger move either creates a packet, exposes a useful rank or shortens a column that can soon become empty.
Check the Kings before committing an empty column. A King cannot land on another card, so changing its column requires a vacancy. A King that already heads a suited fragment may be worth leaving in place while the lower ranks are brought to it. A lone King covering useful cards needs a planned vacancy before it can get out of the way.
Do not chase 1 suit while the other 3 become harder to move. A nearly complete run is useful only if the surrounding columns still have legal destinations. Several short same-suit packets often provide more options than 1 long run beside a group of mixed piles.
Use Hints Without Losing the Lesson
Hint identifies a legal move from the current position. It does not promise that every legal move belongs to the strongest plan. After a hint appears, check why the move helps: does it join a suit, shorten a column or prepare a vacancy? That extra check makes the next similar position easier to read without assistance.
Certified deals also offer a proven move. This follows the stored winning line for the exact starting deck. Use it when you want to recover the solution path rather than explore. Hints, undo and proven moves mark the game as assisted, so a clean leaderboard result requires playing without them.
Common Simple Simon Mistakes
Assuming every descending column moves as 1 group
Rank order makes the column legal, but suit order makes it movable. Check every suit symbol from the selected card to the bottom before expecting the group to travel.
Filling the first vacancy with the longest packet
Length is not the goal. Fill the space with a card or packet that can leave after it opens another route. A mixed pile placed in the vacancy may turn the best tool on the table into ordinary storage.
Building mixed suits when a suited join is available
Mixed builds are sometimes necessary, but a same-suit join converts several cards into 1 movable piece. Take the suited join first unless the alternative immediately clears a column or releases a critical King.
Completing a run before using its upper ranks
A finished suit disappears. If its King or Queen is serving as the only legal destination for another card, make that transfer before adding the Ace that completes the run.
Reading only the short columns
Early space often comes from the right side, but the long left columns contain most of the deck. Scan all 10 endpoints after every major transfer. A useful same-suit join can appear far from the column you just changed.
How Simple Simon Relates to Other Spider Games
Simple Simon borrows Spider's split between rank-only building and same-suit packet movement, then changes the shape of the game. Standard Spider Solitaire uses 2 decks, begins with hidden cards and deals 5 additional stock rows. Simple Simon has 1 deck, no hidden cards and no later deal to change the endpoints.
Spiderette also uses 1 deck, but it keeps a 7-column rising deal and a 24-card stock. The types of Solitaire guide places both games within the wider group of Klondike, Spider, FreeCell and pairing games.
Common Questions
Are all cards face up in Simple Simon?
Yes. All 52 cards are visible from the opening deal. Simple Simon has no face-down cards, stock or waste pile.
Can you build with different suits?
Yes. A card may land on the next higher rank regardless of suit. Several cards move together only when the entire selected packet descends in 1 suit.
What can go into an empty column?
Any available single card or any legal same-suit descending packet can fill an empty Simple Simon column.
How many columns are used?
Simple Simon uses 10 columns. Their opening sizes are 8, 8, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 cards.
How do you win Simple Simon Solitaire?
Arrange all 4 suits into complete same-suit sequences from King through Ace. Each finished sequence leaves the tableau automatically, and the deal is won when all 4 have been removed.