Play Eight Off Solitaire Online for Free

Eight Off Solitaire is a close relative of FreeCell with every card face up and eight free cells instead of four. The catch is that four of the free cells start full, the tableau builds down in suit, and only Kings can fill an empty column.

Eight Off Objective

Win Eight Off Solitaire by moving all 52 cards to the four foundation piles, building each one up in suit from Ace to King.

All 52 cards are dealt face up. The tableau has eight columns of six cards, and the last four cards go into four of the eight free cells, so you start with four free cells open. There’s no stockpile.

On SolitaireStreak, every Eight Off deal can be won. Each game is solved by a computer before it’s dealt, so there’s always a way to move all 52 cards to the foundations, but you still need to find it. If you move cards in the wrong order, you may get stuck.

Eight Off Rules

• Build the foundations up in suit. Each foundation starts with an Ace and builds up to the King, such as the 2♠ on the A♠.
• Build down in the tableau in the same suit. A card can only go on the next-higher card of its own suit, so the 8♣ goes on the 9♣ and the 6♥ goes on the 7♥.
• Use the eight free cells. Each free cell holds one card, and any card at the bottom of a column can go into an empty one. Four of them start the game full.
• Only Kings can go into an empty column. A King can move there on its own or at the head of a run of its suit.
• The number of cards you can move as a run equals the number of open free cells, plus one. So with three empty free cells you can move a run of four. Empty columns don’t add to that number in Eight Off.
• Foundation cards can come back. You can drag the top card of a foundation back to the tableau, but it counts as a penalty.

The game is over when no card can move. Undo takes back a move, Hint points out a useful one, Restart replays the same deal, and New Game deals a fresh one.

Eight Off vs. FreeCell

Eight Off is played much like FreeCell Solitaire, with every card face up and no stockpile. A few differences change how you plan each game.

• Eight free cells instead of four, but four of them start full.
• Build in suit instead of alternating colors, so each card has only one place to go in the tableau.
• Only Kings can fill an empty column. In FreeCell any card can, and empty columns let you move longer runs. In Eight Off only the free cells count toward a run.

If you like building in suit, try Baker’s Game, the older game FreeCell grew out of.

Tips and Strategies to Win Eight Off

• Free the Aces and 2s first. Low cards buried deep in a column hold up a whole suit, so dig them out early.
• Empty the full free cells. The four cards dealt into free cells take up space you need. Look for places to play them early.
• Keep as many free cells open as possible. Open free cells decide how long a run you can move. Filling the last one can leave you with no moves at all.
• Empty a column only when a King is ready for it. An empty column only takes a King, so clearing one too early wastes the moves it took.
• Build long runs in suit. A long run from King down to lower ranks can sit in a column out of the way until the foundations are ready for it.