In Simple Simon, the needed card is visible.
Simple Simon deals all 52 cards face-up across ten columns, with no stock. Unlike two-deck Mrs. Mop, each suit-and-rank card has only one copy. When it is buried, the useful question is which legal sequence of moves exposes that exact card.
Last updated: September 2026
Trace the card you need, then its blockers
The ten opening columns have 8, 8, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 cards. Because every card is face-up, you can locate the next missing rank in a target suit run immediately. Read from that card to the top of its column. Each card above it needs a legal destination before the target can move. Check whether moving those blockers will bury another unique rank you need later.
A column holds 7♥ with 4♣ above it. Another ends in 5♣, and a third ends in 8♥. Move 4♣ onto 5♣; the 7♥ is now exposed. Move 7♥ onto 8♥ to make a movable heart pair. Both moves have been checked against the Simple Simon engine. Whether to take them in a real deal depends on what the 4♣ then covers.
Use the short columns as possible workspace
The last opening column has one card and the next has two. If either can be cleared with a useful transfer, the resulting empty column can stage a card or a same-suit group while you unpack a deeper column. Empty columns accept any movable card or group. Do not fill the last open space merely to lengthen a visible run unless the move exposes something you need or has a route back out.
A completed same-suit King-to-Ace run is removed automatically. The shared group-movement rule and use of empty columns are explained in the Spider family guide. There is no stock timing decision in Simple Simon.