How low can you go?

Your challenge is to clear the board in as few moves as possible. Set the difficulty lever to 'Easy:One Suit', and try to crack 100!

Post your best scores here, and the lowest score will be declared 'The Spider Supremo of FunTrivia', with all the consequent bragging rights.

I have just set a challenging score, which I will not reveal at this stage- can you beat me?

Hey, I've long since moved on to four suit, which is pretty difficult. But my real prowess is in Freecell, where I long ago declared myself the disputable undisputed champion of the world.

Leo, I presume you have tried the three impossible Freecell games? #-1, #-2 and #11982.

I have tried 4-suit Spider, and usually get myself into an unholy mess

I'm only on the lowest of the low and the highest I have managed to get is a measly 1209.

I just discovered this one . Very addictive!

Arghhhh, it doesn't work... just can't win that one...

Blasted Ren, I have been ignoring this one until now! Previously I had been a Free Cell addict.

My best score is 92 moves. Can anyone beat that?

The score in points was 1209, so I guess that would make it 91 moves.

My personal best at the moment is 96.

Its driving me around the bend.

There is something new about that, dear?

I have finally broken 100! I just did it in 98, not a record but my personal best.

That's pretty darn good Sue. Apart from a couple of aberrations it's been quite difficult to break 100.

I was stalled at 105 until I read this thread and realized it was possible to do better. Changed my tactics a bit, and just had an 89 move game. That's my best.

How did you do that? I know what I shouldn't be doing, but it's those last few moves I just can't manage. Guess I'll have to keep trying.

89 is VERY impressive! I cannot even get close to my personal best, and it is not for lack of trying (just ask my boss ).

I can't finish it in less than 98 moves.
With 104 cards, how do you get below 90!

Dumb luck!
Wish I could remember how I got to 91 - I'd try it again... and then I would go out and get a life.

I managed a 96 once and was thrilled. But more often than not I'm on about 107. I wish I hadn't read this thread a couple of weeks ago because I've been addicted to the game ever since.

Here's what I changed. I stopped creating empty spaces prior to the final deal. If things get hopelessly clogged up prior to the final deal, I may make a space (if I can) and move a king (or a partially completed string with a king at the top) onto the empty space. But in general, I try not to make empty spaces, and when I do, only fill them with kings or "king strings". The reason I avoid making and filling spaces is because the fill move is a lateral move which doesn't move the game forward, except as a facilitator for subsequent moves. Any game that requires many lateral moves to keep going isn't going to be a low scoring game. This method requires good cards in order to even finish, since without the option of making and filling spaces, clogs are common. I bust a lot of games, but when I finish one (roughly half the time), I usually score 98 or lower. Also, never undo a move. It costs you a move to do so, and if you need to undo, then the game won't be a low score anyway. Go slow, look a few moves ahead, and wait for perfect cards. I found mention of an 87 score elsewhere on the internet.

I do the same except when finishing off the last 'deal' I end up with too many small strings to be added effectively. I very rarely exceed 100 these days due to this method.

My current success rate is 63% and the most wins I've ever had on the trot is 13.

Just had another 89. Very nice cards, no mistakes that I remember. Have been mostly in the mid to high 90's for a few days, then a 91 and an 89 this evening.

Grrr... Well done. I think I am fighting a losing battle.

A couple more of 98 then a 97.

I surrender .. 94 is as low as I can go!

Just clocked in at 87.

Jeez, I JUST got a 90, and was coming here to brag, but I will not bother now..

Congrats! I've worked out (I think) it's the fall of the cards on the second to last deal. If it's good and you don't make holes you are in with a chance.

What a load of codswallop. I haven't got a clue, but the challenge is now on.

96, so not as good as some of you but my best!

I'm still out here trying to break 90 again. That 87 is one impressive score.

I don't think I will ever manage to do it again but I am going to try and break it anyway.

Still out here trying. Have had some nice games in the last few days, consistantly under 95. Had three 90's and an 89 over the past two days. My stats reflect my bias toward low scores: success rate is 47%.

Good grief! 87? I had a 92 the other day and was thrilled senseless. I've got a lo-o-o-o-ng way to go...

Clocked in at 88, not as good as my best though. Have you any idea of how many times you have to play this game before you get a decent score?

I've played about 750 times, with 89 being my best (another 89 about 5 minutes ago). Counter shows 800, but my wife played roughly 50 of those. She has a 92 so far.

Just had an 88. My best.

I still cannot beat 90.

Congrats, Cabin!

Well done cabin.

Thankee. 2 more 88's.

Just had an 87. I should note that my last two 88's and my 87 all came from re-playing the original 88 game. I replayed it half a dozen times, with the highest score being about 92. I've been re-playing all my better games, but this is the first time I was able to improve on the original score by doing so. This 87 had one lateral move in it, so perhaps there is still some slack in the score.

I hadn't thought about actually saving the games. Must try it next time I get up there.

I'm new here. I was looking for the record lowest Spider Solitaire score--and it might be me. I don't know how I did it but I have had an 86 score. I tried to replay that game but could never even get close again. Keep striving, friends, I'm sure there's an 85 out there somewhere!

Welcome Auntiegah! 86 is just brilliant. Well done!

Congratulations, Auntiegah. Great score. I'm away from home right now and don't have the web address, but a few days ago I found a site with what appear to be a list of the top spider solitaire scores from around the world. As I recall, the top score was a 79. I'll give the address when I get back home. I'm still at 87, and trying to think of new strategies to improve. Do you have any tips?

Cool score Auntie. Congratulations!

Back home again. The website showing the top spider solitaire scores is:
http://stb.st.funpic.de/solranking/index.htm

Record is held by a Frenchman, at 79. Auntiegah's 86 would rank 10th (I think) on this list.

Yippee, I just did it in 93 so that is now my personal best!

Nice going Sue943. My dad just broke 100 for the first time with a 99. I'm waiting for a second wind.

Well done! Darn thing is - you can't help wanting to better yourself.

First, I think 4 suit is much better, but I switched after reading this thread and got an 87 the first day I played. My second best was 90. I think this way is almost completely luck, you just don't move any card that doesn't have a card under it until you have dealt all the cards and try to keep things in the best order possible til the end and then it is a crap shoot. Dumbest game ever. But I am slightly addicted

Also, Minesweeper is the greatest stupid game of all time, Bar None.

Hi. I scored an 85 a couple of weeks ago. I've also had four 89s. Just thought that I'd brag. Bye.

85 is amazing! Congrats, and welcome, Rick...

Just clocked in at 88. It's been a long time since I did that.

I remember someone who lost a game of spider by going too good. Cleared out all the cards but 9 and had deals left. She was forced to leave an empty space for the deal which, as you know, is against the rules. Game Over.

My high score is 1209. I don't remember how many moves it was. Is it always the same number of moves on the score 1209? Or can you get to 1209 in a smaller number of moves?

I finally got a 90 today so I thought I'd register and post. I even took a screen shot because I thought it would be rare. NOT!

As far as running streaks, I have a 66-game winning streak for the easy level. BEAT THAT!

Very good Sarge (speaking as a 95'er who can't rise about it!)

I beat my own score this morning and achieved an incredible 86 moves.Is this a record??
Obviously not as I just read about the outstanding 85!!

Well done! (and I am still only on 94!)

This my best (84). I have also once got an 88 and have gotten an 89 three times. http://netfoo.net/~dunderwood/spider.jpg

Ok, I have a question...what level is everyone playing?

I always play the medium level. Easy is just too, well, easy and Difficult should really be called Impossible in my opinion.

It's sort of misleading to post scores without stating how many decks you're working with. (Decks of cards, that is..I'm never really playing with a full deck... )

I go between easy and medium. When i loose too may times at medium I go back to easy, just to remind myself that it is possable!! Then once I beat that a few times I go back to medium.
I think the same as you about difficult Taesma! I've only tried it a few times, and never got very far.

Always easy. The point is (I think) that , yes, it is easy, but not to do it with a very low score.

You are all very bad, bad people!
I started playing it too after reading this (never played before) and now I'm suicidal because I can't get under 102 moves.

I always play the easy level. I haven't yet developed a good strategy for any of the other levels although I have occasionally played at those levels. I wouldn’t even know what a good score on those levels would be…

Is this game on this site somewhere?
If so, what part of the site? I assume not under games since I go in there all the time.

No, Amy, it's not on this site. Most computers come with it installed on them.

Check under "start" - "programmes" - "games"

I'm new to this game and I won on the difficult level (4 suits) in 242 moves. My score was 1058.

What I don't know is... is that any good?

Newslady, getting the difficult level out in any number of moves is a major accomplishment- I usually end up in a dreadful mess, and have never solved this level.

Oh, and welcome the the FT forums.

My record sheet shows me as having a 100% record on the one with four suits, with one win, so I am never going to play it again ( Did I mention that prior to getting my success that I reset it after each game I played )

Of academic interest... The lowest possible number of moves is 50. Assuming optimal cards, make all five deals before any other move to form ten perfect sequences. Four suits can then be completed in 8 moves and the 9th move makes a sequence of ace through 8 (reading up). Five moves of this suit will complete it, the fifth suit. The remaining three suits require 12 moves each for a total of 36. The sum of these is 50, for a score of 1250.

Interestingly, the top scores listed on http://stb.st.funpic.de/solranking/index.htm indicate that the world master (Scott McQueen of New Zealand) is taking 123 moves to complete the four suit version. Posters in this forum are beating that every day, it seems.

G'day,

I've been playing Spider Solitaire lately and have managed to get it down to 92. I use the same technique mentioned previously, basically never to make a lateral move.

Last night I was trying to calculate how many moves it would be possible to complete the game in. I reasoned it out like this: there are 8 suits of 12 cards. Each suit needs 12 moves to complete: Queen on King, Jack on Queen, Ten on Jack, etc. 8 x 12 moves = 96 moves. This is basically a minimum number of moves. I figure it's only possible to get below this if by luck, when dealing out the remaining cards, a card will land on a correct card. So when I achieved my score of 92, it was a perfect game (ie no lateral moves) with enough luck to have 4 cards landing on the correct card. The only way to improve on my score is to have more luck! The very low scores mentioned must come from very lucky card-fall. 50 cards are dealt out, so in my top-scoring game 4 out of 50 landed on a correct card.

Just depends on the cards!

I just came in here to brag about my 88, but there are a few people with lower numbers.. grrr!

I was fortunate to set up a King to Two row in the first round, and was dealt an Ace to finish it off. I did exactly the same trick 2 rounds later- I love it when a plan comes together...

Hi all, am a newbie. Was trying to find out what good scores were and am ecstatic to find out that my 1210 is a good score on the easy game. Feel a lot better now......

I'm a 4-suit fan and have saved a number of .sav files of difficult (but completeable) games. Has anyone else done this and would like to exchange files? I have about 20 very hard ones and another 150 do-able but not easy.

I found some useful Spider Solitaire strategy tips that really helped me to gain better results playing spider solitaire 4 suits.

Hi. This is my first post. Does anyone know the lowest number of moves for Spider Solitaire at Medium Level (two suits)? My lowest is 103 moves.

best score ever for me today August 27th 2007 at 93.

I play the difficult level not for score but to see how many times in a row I can beat it. So far my record is eight in a row. Is there any record kept on number of wins in a row?

I'm newer to the game and was frustrated with too many 98-100's .... I just got a 88.... yay!

My best score so far is 94 but this was on the two suit medium setting. Have you established which level of difficulty a competitor should use?

i think peujohn is right, that 96 moves is technically the lowest score. The way i look at it is 96 is par, like in golf, this is the score you should get barring no mistakes or unneccesary moves, like open spots too early etc. And any way of getting below 96 is pretty much luck, like a 9 falling on a 10 when you get dealt cards, although there is some strategy in which cards are on top when you deal cards. For example if you know there are no 6's to be found, most likely on the next deal youll get 2 or 3, so you could try to leave as many 7's on top for a 6 to fall on, so even that is still luck but its like increasing your odds a little bit more by being aware of that, having said all that my best score is but a 92, id love to know if anyone else is picked up on any other quarky strategies in this game? Also is anyone posting screen shots of the scores that are being claimed?

Beh...just tried and got 113, which is a little bit better than my usual score. I'm horrible at card games...even virtual ones.

Phew Tried that got just over 60.

Will probably have to play that game a LOT of times to get the score down.

I'm at 87 for my best one also. It really helps to have the flop put necessary cards on. The way I usually play is to play on easy until I get a score that's 95 or lower, which I can do about 1 in five games on average. Still haven't lost a game on easy yet (1200+ games).

http://www.putfile.com/pic/7664409

Hard is a pain to do in fewer moves because it takes a lot of luck, and if not losing matters to you, then you pretty much have to rely on the undo to keep yourself in the best position.

My best score so far is 101 moves, one suit.

I have only won twice (out of 100 attempts)playing the 4 suits solitaire.

my best is 89 moves score 1211

At what level are you playing?

I usually always play it with all suits but I was intrigued by this challenge, it's not easy to beat 100 but I finally managed to score 98! I will keep at to see if I can get a better score though I feel this is the best I can do...

hello - just discovered Spider Solitaire (and this forum) - other posters are right - rather addictive. I've only played at the 2 suit level so far - my highest score isn't very good I'm afraid - only 1185, but I have won 96% of the games I've played so far. Is that good?

All those years I managed to avoid this thread...
You know I won't stop until I go below 90, I'm with denni, you people are evil!

The best I have done on this game so far, on 9/14/09 was 108 moves for 1192. But I have been playing canasta since so better get back to this it looks like to see if I can do better.

Lisa

I agree Trivia Paul. I just cannot get below 90! Just keep trying.

My highest Spider Solitaire score is 1411

In regular solitaire, the games are numbered so my wife and I often compete by using two computers and selecting the same game.

Is this possible with Spider Solitaire? Is there a version which gives you a number to identify the given original deal? kent

Yea... I'm addicted to this game.
So far I've racked up 3565 games at 2670 wins, 895 losses for a 74% win rate. Most wins in a row is 14, losses in a row are 4. Highest score on easy mode is 1212 at 88 moves. Seem to average between 105 and 97 for most games. Occasionally I slip into some games that require 110-115 moves to complete. Did some math and if you have to move each card with no fill ins ( lateral) I think a low game would be 74 moves....

SD

Hi, I'm faeriechris and new to the forum, I am addicted to spider solitaire.
my best score is 1216-84 moves, most of the time i'm in the low to mid ninties with the occasional low 100s

I need help, I have been playing spider for a while and enjoying it; got a new computer recently; and found my games were kind of off, so I was really powering through games and not playing too close attention. I've gotten back into a rhythm and notice that I have a high score of 1292. I'm not even sure how many moves a 1292 would require... my recollection of a best game on this machine is 88 moves. On my old 'puter I had an 84 once. I don't recall either of those scores being a 1292! How many moves is a 1292? Seriously?!? I'm at a loss for how this is my highest score!

wow! It's been a long time since I've played spider solitaire. I guess I've been to addicted to funtrivia to have any time for it!

My best score is 1129

My best one is 100 moves

My best is 77 moves

Can anyone beat me

My winning streak is sitting at 412. My overall record is 412-0 and my high score is 1278. Beat that

My best score is 1174 on easy difficulty recently

I have been playing spider solitaire, with cards, since I was seven years old - I did not know it had a name then, in the game I played there was no extra pile it was straight up depended on the three in the deck. I can honestly say that playing it that way without any cheating, I have solved the deck less than fifteen times in my life and that is an over-estimation. I thought it a good idea to put the extra deck in although my version is a little harder what with sorting the cards out by suit on the table with no extra pile - yep i was really young when I chose to do things the hard way.
Two Roos
Cathy

Minesweeper anyone??

My record time for expert is 107 seconds... anyone else addicted to it?