Seahaven Towers strategy
In brief
Each card has only one possible parent: the card of the same suit exactly one rank higher. Quickly free the cells occupied by the deal, identify buried kings, uncover the aces and 2s, and only empty a column if a king can go there: all cards are visible, and nothing depends on chance once the cards have been dealt.
Only one parent per card
In FreeCell, a 7 of hearts can go on either of the two black 8 cards. Here, it can only go on the 8 of hearts. Before moving a card, check where its parent is: if it is buried beneath other cards, the card will have to wait in a cell. A card placed above its own parent in the same column creates the worst blockage.
Free the cells occupied by the deal
The game starts with 2 cells already occupied by the deal. Finding a place for these two cards early (their parent or their foundation) gives you more room to maneuver. Each occupied cell reduces the size of the groups you can move: with 4 free cells and no empty columns, a group can contain 5 cards; with 2, 3; with none, only 1. Before placing a card in a cell, ask yourself when it will come out again.
Kings first
A king has no parent: it can only leave its column for an empty column, a cell, or its foundation. A king at the base of a column is well placed and can receive its entire sequence. A king in the middle of a column blocks the cards it covers: identify those kings from the start and plan an empty column for each one.
Empty a column for a king
An empty column accepts only a king. Emptying it is therefore useful only if a buried king, or a king-led sequence, is waiting to move there. In the app, an empty column also doubles group size: with 4 free cells and one empty column, you can move 10 cards at once to an occupied column. When the sequence goes into the empty column, that column no longer counts.
Clear the aces and 2s
A low card buried beneath a column blocks its entire suit. Locate the aces and 2s at the start and begin with the columns covering them. With 5 cards per column, no card is very deeply buried: moving a low card to its foundation early often opens up several moves.
Planning: everything is visible
Since no cards are hidden, a Seahaven Towers deal can be solved like a puzzle. Before each series of moves, work out where the card you are moving will go and what the move frees up. A move that fills a cell without freeing anything is rarely a good one.
- Build long sequences on well-placed kings.
- Avoid burying a low card under a sequence.
- In the app, nothing moves up to the foundations automatically: you keep a card in the tableau for as long as it can serve as a support.
Playing with 2 or 1 cells
The app lets you play with fewer cells. On Medium (2 cells), the two cards from the deal occupy both cells: the game starts with no free cells, and the first objective is to free one. With 1 free cells and no empty columns, a group cannot exceed 2 cards; one empty column raises that to 4. The Examples page provides a solved deal with 2 cells.