Eight Off Solitaire: the highest ceiling we measured
Eight Off is FreeCell's orderly cousin. You get eight free cells instead of four, but four of them already hold a card when the game starts, and you must build down in the same suit rather than alternating colors. Only Kings can go into an empty column.
The ceiling is remarkable. Our solver decided every one of 10,000 deals on this site's rules, with nothing left undecided. It solved 99.89% and proved just 0.11% impossible, which is 11 deals out of 10,000. And on the stricter rules used in published research, our figure agrees with the published one.
If you lose a game of Eight Off here, the odds are overwhelming that there was a winning line. Play it free in your browser, with nothing to download.
The ceiling at a glance
| Result | Value | Deals | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solved on this site's rules | 99.89% (95% range 99.80–99.94%) | 10,000 | Solver, every deal decided |
| Proven impossible on this site's rules | 0.11% (11 deals) | 10,000 | Same solver |
| Undecided | 0 | 10,000 | Up to 200,000 positions per deal |
| Solved, one card at a time (published research rules) | 99.80% (95% range 99.69–99.87%) | 10,000 | Same solver, stricter move rule |
| Published winnable share | 99.8805% | – | Blake & Gent, 2026 |
| Deals with an Ace playable at once | 66.4% | 10,000 | Deal inspection |
| Deals with an Ace already in a starting cell | 28.1% | 10,000 | Deal inspection |
| Length of the first solution found | about 35 moves on average | 9,989 solved deals | Not necessarily the shortest |
How our result lines up with published research
Blake & Gent (2026) studied Eight Off with a rule that moves only one card at a time, and report 99.8805% of deals winnable. When we ran our solver on that same stricter rule, we proved 0.14% of deals impossible, with a 95% range of 0.08–0.24%. The published figure implies about 0.12% impossible, which sits inside our range. The two studies agree.
This site is slightly more generous: it lets you move a same-suit run of several cards at once, using your empty cells and columns. That rescues a handful of extra deals, taking the solved share from 99.80% to 99.89%.
The rules as this site plays them
48 cards out, four in the cells
Eight columns of six cards, all face up, which uses 48 cards. The other four go into four of the eight free cells, so you start with four cells occupied and four empty.
In-suit moves and cell use
- Build down in the same suit: the 7 of clubs goes only on the 8 of clubs.
- Any available card can go into an empty cell.
- A cleared column takes a King, or a same-suit stack topped by a King, and nothing else.
- You can move a same-suit run of several cards at once, up to the number of empty cells plus empty columns, plus one.
When the 52nd card goes home
All 52 cards on the foundations, built up by suit from Ace to King.
What the ceiling tells you about playing well
Start by counting your empty cells
You begin with four empty cells, not eight. Every card you park reduces how far you can move a run, so guard the empty ones.
Look in the cells for Aces
In 28.1% of deals an Ace is already sitting in a starting cell. Send it up at once and you get a cell back for free.
Expect a quick game
Solutions the solver found were about 35 moves long on average. That is short for a patience game. The challenge is planning, not stamina.
Clear a column only for a King
Only Kings can fill an empty column, so do not empty one unless a King or King-headed run is ready to move in.
Treat a loss as a planning puzzle
Only 11 deals in 10,000 were proven impossible on these rules. Use Undo to back up and try a different order.
A first look at an Eight Off deal
Eight Off rewards a minute of study before your first move, because every card is visible and there is almost always a winning line. Here is a good way to use that minute.
- Check the four occupied cells. Any Ace there goes home now. Any 2 of a suit whose Ace is already free should follow. Each cell you empty is a cell you can use later.
- Find the Aces in the columns. Note how many cards sit on each one. The Ace with the fewest cards above it is usually the one to dig out first.
- Look for same-suit runs. Cards already sitting on their suit partner one rank higher are progress you get for free.
- Count your space before a long move. A same-suit run can move as a group only if you have enough empty cells and columns. If you do not, free a cell first.
- Keep a column for a King. An empty column only helps once you have a King, or a King-topped same-suit run, ready to move into it.
With 11 deals in 10,000 proven impossible on these rules, a game that feels stuck almost always has a way out. Undo is the fastest way to find it.
Inside the test, one step at a time
The solitaire-online.us team tested Eight Off in September 2026.
- Reading the rules from our game code. Eight columns of six, eight cells with four pre-filled, same-suit building, Kings only in spaces, and same-suit runs that move together up to cells plus empty columns plus one.
- Rebuilding the game. We wrote Eight Off as a Python program with those rules, plus a stricter one-card-at-a-time version to match published research.
- Dealing the cards. 10,000 deals for each version, each from a numbered seed.
- Choosing the player. A solver. Every card in Eight Off is face up, so the solver knows exactly what you know.
- Running it. Up to 200,000 positions per deal. On this site's rules every deal was decided: solved or proven impossible.
- Checking against published research. On the stricter rule, our proven-impossible range (0.08–0.24%) contains the published 0.12%.
- Working out the margin of error. A 95% range means the true value would fall inside it in 19 of 20 repeats. Deals solved: 99.80–99.94%.
- What the numbers cannot tell you. "Solved" means a winning line exists. Finding it is still up to you.
The code behind the ceiling
We wrote the study in Python 3.11, standard library only. Eight Off shares the module freecell2.py with FreeCell Two Decks, and a shared runner spreads the deals across processor cores with Python's multiprocessing.
The solver is a best-first search: it always expands the position that looks closest to a win, and it keeps a record of positions already seen so none is searched twice. Because Eight Off builds in suit, every legal move to a foundation is safe, so the solver makes those automatically. Ranges are Wilson score intervals at 95%.
The AI assistant Claude, from Anthropic, reviewed our code with us and drafted parts of this page. The AI did not produce the figures. Every number comes from running the solver, and the team checked it against the published result before publishing.
By Admin, solitaire-online.us (Solitairen OOD). Study date: September 19, 2026.
Ceiling questions from players
Is Eight Off more winnable than FreeCell?
On our tests they are both near the top. We solved 99.89% of Eight Off deals and 99.68% of FreeCell deals, and neither game had more than a tiny share proven impossible.
Why are four cells full at the start?
That is how Eight Off is dealt: 48 cards to the columns and the last four into cells.
Is any card allowed into a vacant Eight Off column?
No. It has to be a King, alone or leading a same-suit stack.
Why do I have to build in suit?
It is the rule that makes Eight Off different from FreeCell. It also means every foundation move is safe, so you never need to hold a card back.
Which game should come after Eight Off?
FreeCell uses alternating colors, Baker's Solitaire builds in suit with four cells, and FreeCell Two Decks doubles the deck.