Discussions resurface from place to place when it comes to the best variation of the pleasurable and beloved classic Solitaire. Are you a fan of this game? Do you have your favorites? Or does it tickle your fancy? For your convenience, we have prepared two of the most popular Solitaire card games to help you decide which to play when boredom strikes. Let us introduce you to FreeCell and Spider Solitaire and see what type of free Solitaire game would suit you.
Set up
Setting up the game helps you in forming your decision. FreeCell would need a 52-card deck, which can be played with the standard cards you’ve kept under the coffee table or with a few clicks on your Solitaire online app. Those 52 cards should create the tableau with eight columns and these should keep moving until all the cards are equally distributed in the HomesCells.
On the other hand, Spider Solitaire would need two decks of 52 cards. From there, you should create ten columns that will form the tableau. Columns 1 to 4 have 6 rows with 1 card faced up and the remaining columns have 5 rows, where the last card is also faced upwards. Now, what are you going to do with the remaining cards? Simple, set those aside for they will serve as your comrades once the battle begins. A friendly reminder though, cards in Spider Solitaire should be facing down except the ones that we already mentioned, unlike in the FreeCell where all cards should face upwards. Do you like cards facing upwards or do oblivion challenges attract you more?
Unleash ace
One thing to take into account when choosing between the two variations is the role of the aces. FreeCell sees the aces as the base of each suit as they’re the ones that build the foundation piles or HomeCells. Thus, as soon as you find an ace card, move it directly to the foundation stack. Now, in Spider, aces are the instruments that complete the sequence. FreeCell is like completing a puzzle, where you have to be more strategic to complete all the suits. Whereas, in Spider, all you’ve got to do is to eliminate sequences of cards before you run out of moves.
Different grooves, different moves
When you play Solitaire, moves are considered as bullets. Spider Solitaire allows you to make use of every available move as much as you want. Plus, you can pick cards from the remaining deck you set aside earlier to help you eliminate the card sequences. There’s a “but” though. Since the cards are facing down, you would never know what you’re going to get, which means you have to base your victory on luck.
Don’t you like such a rule? No worries, in FreeCell, you have the freedom to put unnecessary cards on the free cells, hence the name, and can use them again and again in the game later on. However, do not be reckless in using these four free spaces. Why so? It’s because once you run out of moves in the tableau piles and the free spaces are full, your game is over.
Conclusion
Have you picked one now? There’s no right or wrong answer, though. Humans are made different from each other. We all make our own choices in terms of our personal preferences. Both FreeCell and Spider Solitaire are fun games and have their own flavor. It’s up to you to decide what’s better for you.
Better yet, they’re easily accessible. Solitaire Bliss not only has FreeCell but other variations like Baker’s Game. On Solitaired, another classic games platform, you can play Spider Solitaire which includes a game of the day where you can compare scores and times. If you can’t choose which game to play, it’s not a crime to enjoy both, is it?
