Eight Off is the open-information patience that pre-dates FreeCell. Eight reserve cells (four filled at start, four empty) and eight tableau columns of six cards, all face-up. You build down in the tableau by suit — strict same-suit, not alternating color — and aim to fill four foundations from Ace to King. Free in your browser, no sign-up. Works offline once the page has loaded.
Goal: build all four foundations from Ace to King by suit.
Eight Off's strict rule is one card at a time, same as FreeCell. With empty reserve cells, you could move a sequence by hand and reach the same end state. Our version does it in one move. The limit is simpler than FreeCell's:
1 + empty reserves
With four empty reserves, you can move 5 cards. With all eight empty, 9 cards. Empty columns do not raise the limit. An empty column takes only a King or a sequence starting with a King, so it can't hold part of a sequence while you shift it. A King-led sequence can move into an empty column, within the same limit.
The two games look almost identical at the table. The differences sit in three rules.
| Aspect | FreeCell | Eight Off |
|---|---|---|
| Reserve cells | 4 (all empty at start) | 8 (4 dealt with cards, 4 empty) |
| Tableau columns | 8 (4×7 cards + 4×6 cards) | 8 (all 6 cards each) |
| Tableau building | Down by alternating color | Down by same suit |
| Empty column fill | Any card | King only |
| Solver: winnable deals | about 99.999% (Blake & Gent, 2026) | about 99.9% (Mark Masten) |
The four extra reserves give you more parking space. The same-suit building rule and the King-only empty-column rule give each card fewer places to go. Baker's Game also builds by same suit, but it has only four reserves and lets any card fill an empty column.
Eight Off was published by Geoffrey Mott-Smith in his 1949 book Card Games for One. It is one of the earliest patience games to use the open-reserve mechanic — every card visible from the start, with parking cells for temporary storage. Paul Alfille's design of FreeCell on the PLATO system in the late 1970s drew on Eight Off's reserve concept while loosening the building rule from same-suit to alternating-color and reducing the number of reserves from eight to four. Microsoft's 1995 inclusion of FreeCell with Windows made the descendant far more famous than its parent.
This Eight Off runs in your browser — free, no download, no sign-up. Install as an app on your phone or computer; once installed it works offline. Auto-supermoves, unlimited undo, statistics, and a daily challenge that gives every player the same deal that day so you can compare times.
The rules pull in both directions. Eight Off has eight reserve cells and FreeCell has four, so you have more room to park cards. But Eight Off builds the tableau by same suit, not by alternating color, and only a King can fill an empty column. Those two rules give each card fewer places to go.
The eight reserve cells let you take cards "off" the tableau temporarily. Geoffrey Mott-Smith published the game in his 1949 book Card Games for One. The name reflects the mechanic that defines the variant — eight parking spaces, used to keep the tableau clean while you build foundations.
The strict rule is one card at a time. Our version automatically moves a same-suit sequence as a single block when you have enough empty reserves to do so by hand: up to (1 + empty reserves) cards. Empty columns don't raise that limit, because an empty column takes only a King or a sequence starting with a King.
Only a King — or a sequence starting with a King. This is the standard Eight Off rule. In FreeCell, any card can fill an empty column. If all four Kings are buried at the bottom of long stacks, the empty-column game is over.