Play Astrocyte Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)

Squeeze two-deck Spider onto eight columns, lean on four FreeCell-style cells to bail out stuck runs, and chase a tough 30% win rate that's mostly down to skill.

Astrocyte Solitaire squeezes a full two-deck game of Spider onto just eight tableau columns — and then softens the blow with four free cells borrowed from FreeCell. Each column starts eight cards deep with only the top card showing, so well over half the pack begins the game hidden, and every deal from the stock drops a fresh card onto all eight piles at once. The game is hard, with only about 30% of deals ending in a win across those two decks — skill decides most of the rest.

The cells are what make the compression survivable. Building runs down regardless of suit but moving groups only in matching suit — classic Spider arithmetic — leaves you constantly one card short of a clean transfer, and a well-timed trip through a cell is often the difference between a stalled column and a finished sequence. As in Spider, nothing reaches the foundations piecemeal: only a complete King-to-Ace run of a single suit may leave the tableau, and you must assemble all eight of them to win.

In the catalog, Spider Solitaire and Fred's Spider Solitaire are its nearest relatives.

Fancy trying where it all started? Classic Solitaire is right here.

If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.

Enjoy playing!

How to play Astrocyte Solitaire

Layout:

8 foundation piles: Accept only complete King-to-Ace sequences of a single suit. The game is won when all 104 cards reach the foundations.

4 cells: Each cell holds one card, which can be played back to the tableau. All four start empty.

8 tableau piles: Build down regardless of suit. Move groups of cards only if they are in sequence in the same suit. At the start of the game, each pile receives 8 cards, all face-down except the top card.

Stock: Click to deal one card to each tableau pile. Dealing is not allowed while any pile is empty.

Foundation:

There are eight foundation piles, all empty at the start of the game.

Single cards can never be played to a foundation. Only a complete thirteen-card sequence of the same suit, running from King down to Ace, may be moved from the tableau to an empty foundation pile.

The game is won when all eight suits have been assembled and moved off. The top card of each foundation can be moved back into play if another pile will accept it.

Cells:

There are four cells, all of which are originally vacant.

One card can be stored in each cell. Any available card can be played into any open cell, and cell cards can be played back onto the tableau at any time.

A card parked in a cell cannot travel to a foundation on its own — it must first rejoin a sequence on the tableau.

Tableau:

Eight tableau piles of eight cards each. The top card of each pile is dealt face-up, while the remaining cards are dealt face-down.

A card can be added to a tableau pile only if it's one rank lower than the pile's current top card, regardless of suit, so any 6 fits on a 7. When a face-down card becomes the top of its pile, it is turned face-up.

Cards on the tableau that are not covered by another card are free to be played onto a cell or any other tableau pile. If all cards are of the same suit, groups of cards in sequence from high to low may be moved together.

Any card or same-suit sequence can fill an empty slot in the tableau.

Stock:

The stock holds the 40 cards left over after the deal.

When you click on the stock, one card is dealt face-up on top of each tableau pile. You may not deal while any tableau pile is empty.

There are five deals in total, and no redeals.