Solver Search Effort Fails to Predict How Forgiving a FreeCell Deal Is

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A developer testing 1,124 FreeCell deals discovered that using a solver's search effort as a proxy for difficulty is fundamentally flawed. While a solver can freely backtrack from mistakes, human players cannot always identify when or how far back an error occurred, making some 'easy' deals deceptively fragile. One deal rated among the easiest — solved in just 70 positions — became unwinnable after only a few unplanned moves, with 26 of 40 test runs already lost after four moves despite no visible dead end on the board. A contrasting deal requiring nearly 50 times more solver effort proved far more forgiving, remaining winnable in 37 of 40 runs even after 20 random moves. The findings led the developer to design a separate 'narrowness' test using random-move simulations to better capture how much a deal punishes imprecise play.

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