Simple Simon strategy
In brief
All cards are visible: take time to read the board before playing. Build within the same suit whenever you can, empty a column to use as a working space, and bring together the parts of the same run. These are tips, not rules: the examples come from actual games in the app, replayed by a program.
Read the whole board
Nothing is hidden and no cards arrive during the game: all useful moves can be planned from the start. Locate the kings, because a king can only leave its column for an empty one, and look at the last columns, which have only a few cards. In the deal with 4 suits SS1-S4-AAADBEF, column 10 has just one card: the first move places this 5♦ on the 6♦ in column 7, and the game already has an empty column.
No runs removed. column 1: ace of spades, king of hearts, ace of clubs, 4 of diamonds, king of diamonds, 6 of clubs, 10 of hearts, 4 of clubs; column 2: 3 of diamonds, 2 of diamonds, 4 of spades, 9 of clubs, ace of diamonds, 7 of clubs, 8 of diamonds, 9 of hearts; column 3: jack of hearts, 6 of spades, 8 of hearts, 5 of hearts, 2 of spades, 3 of clubs, 6 of hearts, king of spades; column 4: jack of spades, 7 of diamonds, 2 of clubs, 10 of spades, 9 of diamonds, 10 of diamonds, 5 of spades; column 5: 2 of hearts, 9 of spades, king of clubs, 8 of clubs, queen of spades, ace of hearts; column 6: queen of clubs, 7 of hearts, 10 of clubs, jack of clubs, queen of hearts; column 7: jack of diamonds, 3 of hearts, 5 of clubs, 6 of diamonds; column 8: 8 of spades, 4 of hearts, queen of diamonds; column 9: 3 of spades, 7 of spades; column 10: 5 of diamonds.
Build within the same suit
A single card can be placed on any suit, but a group can only move if it is of a single suit. Placing a card on another suit is therefore often a dead end: with 2 suits, in deal SS1-S2-AAAAAAB, move 12 places the 3♥ on the 4♠; this small group can no longer move as a unit (see the examples). Prefer placing cards on the same suit, even if it takes an extra move.
To track your progress, count the breaks: places in a column where two adjacent cards are not consecutive cards of the same suit. In game SS1-S1-AAAAABD, the first move places the 7♠ from column 2 on the 8♠ in column 3: one fewer break, and 499 points.
| After move | Breaks | Empty columns | Runs removed | Cards in play | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 500 |
| 24 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 476 |
| 31 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 569 |
| 46 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 754 |
| 49 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 851 |
Empty a column and use it
An empty column is the game's only reserve space. It accepts any card or any group of the same suit, with no size limit. In game SS1-S1-AAAAABD, column 1 becomes empty on move 24 (15 breaks remain). On move 25, the 12 cards in column 3, from the D♠ to the ace, move there in a single move: the card they covered becomes playable again.
No sequences removed. Column 1: empty; column 2: 10 of spades, 9 of spades, 8 of spades, 7 of spades, 6 of spades; column 3: king of spades, 4 of spades, king of spades, 3 of spades, jack of spades, queen of spades, jack of spades, 10 of spades, 9 of spades, 8 of spades, 7 of spades, 6 of spades, 5 of spades, 4 of spades, 3 of spades, 2 of spades, ace of spades; column 4: 10 of spades, queen of spades, 5 of spades, 4 of spades, queen of spades, 3 of spades, 2 of spades; column 5: king of spades, jack of spades, 2 of spades; column 6: 8 of spades, 7 of spades, 6 of spades, 5 of spades, 4 of spades, 3 of spades, 2 of spades, ace of spades; column 7: ace of spades, 6 of spades, king of spades, 9 of spades; column 8: 5 of spades, queen of spades, jack of spades, 10 of spades, 9 of spades; column 9: ace of spades; column 10: 8 of spades, 7 of spades.
Prepare each run
A run is removed when its 13 cards, from king to ace, are consecutive in the same column. Bring together the parts of the same run and place the longest part on its king at the right moment. On move 31 of the game, the group in column 1 joins the king in column 3: the run is removed and the score goes from 470 to 569 (-1 for the move, +100 for the run).
No runs removed. column 1: queen of spades, jack of spades, 10 of spades, 9 of spades, 8 of spades, 7 of spades, 6 of spades, 5 of spades, 4 of spades, 3 of spades, 2 of spades, ace of spades; column 2: jack of spades, 10 of spades, 9 of spades, 8 of spades, 7 of spades, 6 of spades; column 3: king of spades, 4 of spades, king of spades; column 4: 10 of spades, queen of spades, 5 of spades, 4 of spades, queen of spades, 3 of spades, 2 of spades; column 5: king of spades, jack of spades; column 6: 3 of spades, 2 of spades; column 7: ace of spades, 6 of spades, king of spades, 9 of spades, 8 of spades, 7 of spades, 6 of spades, 5 of spades, 4 of spades, 3 of spades, 2 of spades, ace of spades; column 8: 5 of spades, queen of spades, jack of spades, 10 of spades, 9 of spades; column 9: ace of spades; column 10: 8 of spades, 7 of spades.