Introduction: Freecell Spider Solitaire is a fun combination of the the very popular solitaire games of FreeCell and Spider. It is fun, requires strategy, and is often winnable. For people who like FreeCell and Spider solitaire games, this one is a must to try.
Goal: Build up all cards in sequence, alternating in color, from king down to ace, on four of the eight tableau piles.
Time: About 20 minutes
Wins: Often
Decks: One Deck
Layout: After shuffling, all cards are dealt face-up, overlapping to the 8 tableau piles. The first four columns will have 7 cards, and the last four columns will have six cards. Four spaces are left open for freecell piles. These are in the top left part of your layout. The initial layout for the Freecell Spider Solitaire will look like this.
Play: The goal in Freecell Spider Solitaire is to build four of the eight tableau columns in alternating color from king down to ace. All building is done on the tableau piles.
The top face-up card on the each tableau pile is available for play. Also, any card in a freecell is available for play. In order to build up the four sequences on the tableau, you need to uncover the covered-up cards in the tableau, to get them into play. You do this by moving tableau cards onto the four freecells, and onto other columns in the tableau. Each freecell can hold only one card at a time.
Cards on the tableau are build down in alternating colors. So, in this way, either red queen may be placed onto either black king. And, either the red six of hearts or the red six of diamonds may be placed onto either the black 7 of spades or the black 7 of clubs. These cards are all overlapped, so that you can see what they are. The high card is a king and the low card is an ace, so a king may not be placed on an ace in Freecell. When a card becomes uncovered, and hence, becomes the top-most card in a column , that card is now available for play.
Cards in sequence (alternating color) on a column in the tableau may be moved as a unit. Moving more than one card at one time is often a useful move.
Freecells can hold only one card at a time, and the cards in the freecells are available for play. It is best to keep as many freecells empty as possible. This allows you to move more cards in sequence, and allows flexibility in moving cards around the tableau. If at all possible, try to move cards onto the freecells only when necessary, and only when you can move them back off the freecells back onto the tableau piles as soon as possible.
Gaps in the tableau may be filled with any available card or valid sequence. Creating a gap is usually a good move in Freecell Spider solitaire games. When you have created a gap, try to fill the gap with as large a sequence of cards as possible.
Continue playing in this manner. Move cards from the freecells to the tableau, and from the tableau to the freecells, and within the tableau, trying to uncover tableau cards and build them down in alternating color.
When no more moves can be made on the tableau and freecells, the game is over and lost.
Gaps: Gaps in the tableau in Freecell Spider are made when all of the cards are moved out of a column of the tableau. When this happens, the gap may be filled with any available card or valid sequence. Try to fill a gap with as large a sequence as is valid.
Redeals: In Freecell Spider, no redeals are allowed.