Open Spider, also called Beetle, is Spider with the deal turned face up. Ten columns of six and five cards — fifty-four in all — are dealt with every card showing, the remaining fifty wait in a stock that deals a card to every column at once, and the rules are Spider's own: a card lands on any card one rank higher, only a same-suit run travels, and a complete king-to-ace run of one suit leaves the board. Spider's difficulty comes from two places — what you cannot see and what you cannot move. Open Spider removes the first and keeps the second.
Plan the whole opening. Fifty-four known cards is enough to work out, before the first move, which columns can be emptied and which suit runs can be assembled. Spider players are used to guessing; here the opening is a puzzle with an answer.
Same-suit runs are the only currency. Landing on any suit is cheap; picking up is not. Every card you place on a card of another suit is a card you will have to move singly later. Build in suit wherever you have the choice.
Empty a column before each deal. A deal covers every column. Use a space to relocate runs first, then fill it — the stock will not deal over it — and deal only when nothing else moves.
The stock is the only unknown. Fifty cards in five deals is what you cannot see. Keep at least one column with a low top card, so a deal is likely to land something useful somewhere.
Spider's identity is the collected suit run and the row-dealing stock, and its members vary the deck count, the run rule and the deal. Open Spider changes only the deal: the same fifty-four cards, face up. That is the same relationship Queenie has to Rushdike in the Yukon family, and it produces the same effect — a game that is easier to plan and no easier to execute.
Open Spider runs in your browser — free, no download, no sign-up. Install it as an app on your phone or computer and it works offline. You get unlimited undo, a hint button that names a legal move, statistics that track your wins and times, and seeded deals: every game has a seed you can replay, so a board you enjoyed (or lost) can be played again exactly.
Only the deal. Every card is dealt face up here, where Spider hides all but the top card of each column. The stock, the build, the run rule and the collection rule are the same.
Yes. Beetle is the game's other name, and the two describe exactly the same open deal and rules.
No. A card lands on any suit, but only a same-suit descending run moves as a unit.
No. Fill every empty column first; a deal then puts one card on each of the ten.
Only the order of the fifty cards in the stock. Everything dealt to the table is face up.
Easier to plan, not easier to play. The information helps the opening; the same-suit run rule and the five deals are as hard as ever.