Strategy for Eight Off

Only one parent per card

In FreeCell, a 7 of hearts can go on either of the two black 8 cards. Here, it can only go on the 8 of hearts. Before moving a card, check where its parent is: if it is buried beneath other cards, the card will have to wait in a cell. A card placed above its own parent in the same column creates the worst blockage.

Eight cells, but four already occupied

At the start, 4 cells are free and a group can contain 5 cards. Freeing the cells occupied by the deal is an initial goal: with all 8 cells free, a group can contain up to 9 cards; with only 2 free cells, 3; with none, just 1 card. Before putting a card in a cell, ask yourself when it will come out.

An empty column is for a king

Only a king can enter an empty column. Emptying a column is therefore useful only if a king is waiting to move into it, with or without its sequence. A king at the bottom of a column is well placed: leave it there and build on it. A king placed on other cards blocks them all until a column is empty.

An empty column also doubles the size of groups that can move to an occupied column: with 4 free cells and one empty column, you can move 10 cards at once. But when the king and its sequence move into the empty column, that column no longer counts: count your free cells before emptying the column holding a long group.

Clear the aces and 2s

A low card buried beneath a column blocks its entire suit. At the start, locate the aces and 2 in the columns and cells, and begin with the columns covering them. Moving a low card to its foundation early often opens up several moves.

Planning: everything is visible

Since no cards are hidden, a deal of Eight Off can be solved like a puzzle. Before each series of moves, work out where the card you are moving will go and what the move will free up. A move that fills a cell without freeing anything is rarely good.

• Build long sequences on well-placed kings.
• Avoid burying a low card under a sequence.
• In the app, nothing moves up to the foundations automatically: you keep a card in the tableau for as long as it can serve as a support.

Playing with 4 or 2 cells

The app offers the option to play with fewer cells, and it makes a big difference. With 4 cells, the 4 cards from the deal fill them all: you start with no free cells, and a group cannot exceed 1 card until a cell is freed. Your first moves must therefore empty a cell or move a card to a foundation.

This site’s tool, which follows the app’s rules, searched for a solution to the first 1000 deals: it solves 1000 with 8 cells, 120 with 4, and 3 with 2. With 2 cells, the game is almost always lost from the outset; the Examples page provides one of the rare winnable deals.