FreeCell

How to play FreeCell

FreeCell is the solitaire you win by thinking. Every card is dealt face up at the start, so there is nothing hidden and no luck in what turns over next: the whole puzzle is in front of you from the first move. Four free cells, each holding one card, give you the room to untangle it.

It was written by Paul Alfille in 1978 for the PLATO computer system, and it became famous when Microsoft included it with Windows. Almost every deal can be won — the skill is in finding the way.

The rules

• The goal is to build all four suits up on the foundations, from Ace to King.
• Columns build down in alternating colours. A red seven goes on a black eight.
• Free cells each hold any one card, for as long as you like.
• An empty column can take any card, or any run that fits.
• Only the bottom card of a column, or a card in a cell, can move — but see below for moving runs.

Moving several cards at once

Strictly, FreeCell moves one card at a time. Moving a run of cards in order is shorthand for passing them one by one through the free cells and empty columns, so how many you can move at once depends on how much space you have.

With no empty columns, you can move one card more than you have free cells: three free cells move a run of four. Each empty column doubles that, so three free cells and one empty column move eight. Moving a run into an empty column counts that column as the destination, not as space. If a run is too long for the room you have, the game tells you so rather than refusing silently.

Controls

• Tap a card to pick it up, together with the cards in order below it, then tap where it should go: a column, an empty free cell or a foundation.
• Tap a picked-up card again to send it to the best place it can go — its foundation, then a column it fits on, then an empty column, then a free cell. Every place it could go lights up green; the one a second tap will use has a thicker, glowing outline, and the line above the board says where it is.
• Cards that are safe go home by themselves. A card is only sent up once no card still in play could need it to land on, so you never lose a move you wanted.
• Undo takes back your moves one at a time, and Restart this game deals the same cards again from the start.
• Hint asks a solver for a winning line from where you are and shows the next step of it.

How to win more often

FreeCell rewards a few minutes of looking before the first move more than almost any other solitaire.

• Find the aces and twos first. Note where each one is buried and how many cards sit on top of it; freeing the low cards is most of the game.
• Treat free cells as precious. A cell filled with a card that will not move again soon is a cell lost. Before parking a card, know how it will come back out.
• Empty a column if you can. An empty column is worth more than a free cell: it holds a whole run, and it doubles how many cards you can move at once.
• Build runs on high cards. A long ordered run under a king or queen is safe; a run under a low card may have to be taken apart again later.
• Undo is not cheating. Trying a line, seeing it fail and backing out of it is how strong players play.

Numbered games

Every deal here has a number from 1 to 32,000 — the same numbers, dealing the same cards, as the original Microsoft version. Game #617 is the same game for everyone, so you can play a deal a friend mentions, or come back to one you could not crack. Type a number into the box by the board — under it on a phone, beside it on a computer — to play it.

Of all 32,000, just one cannot be won: game #11982. New games here are picked at random from the rest, so the deal you are given always has a solution. You can still choose #11982 by its number, if you would like to see why.

How the hint works

The hint does not guess. It runs a solver over the position in front of you, searching ahead for a sequence of moves that wins, and shows the first step of that line. Pressing it again follows the same line rather than starting over, so the hints add up to a plan instead of contradicting each other.

The search runs alongside the game, so the board never freezes while it thinks. If it proves that no sequence of moves can win from where you are, it says so plainly. A position can also be hard enough that the search gives up before it is sure either way, and then it says that instead; undoing a few moves and asking again usually finds a way. On game #11982 it simply tells you the deal cannot be won.

Common questions

Can every game of FreeCell be won?

Almost. Of the 32,000 classic numbered deals, only game #11982 has no solution. Random games here never give you that one.

How many cards can I move at once?

One more than your empty free cells, doubled for every empty column. Moving into an empty column, that column does not count as space.

What is the difference between FreeCell and Klondike solitaire?

In Klondike most cards start face down and come from a stock, so luck decides a lot. In FreeCell every card is visible from the start and there is no stock, so it is a puzzle of planning rather than chance.

Are the game numbers the same as Windows FreeCell?

Yes. The deals are made by the same method the Microsoft version used, so game #1 here is game #1 there.

Does my game save if I close the page?

Yes, on your own device, including your last thirty undo steps. Starting a new game replaces it.