FreeCell
CardHow to Play
Goal: Move all 52 cards to the four foundation piles (top right), each built up by suit from Ace to King.
Controls: Tap a card to select it, then tap a destination to move it. You can also drag and drop. Works with touch on mobile.
Rules: Tableau columns build down in alternating colors (red on black, black on red). The four free cells (top left) each hold one card. You can move a run of cards at once when you have enough free cells and empty columns. Use Undo to take back moves and Auto-Collect to send obvious cards home.
About FreeCell
FreeCell is the thinking player's solitaire. Invented in its modern form by Paul Alfille in 1978 as a computer game, it became world-famous when Microsoft bundled it with Windows in the 1990s. Unlike Klondike, every card is dealt face-up from the start, so there is nothing hidden and almost nothing left to chance.
That transparency is the point: nearly every FreeCell deal is solvable, of the original Windows 32,000 deals, all but one (the famous #11982) can be won, so a lost game is a plan that failed, not a bad shuffle. Four free cells give you temporary parking for single cards, and using them sparingly is the entire art.
FreeCell habits of consistent winners
- Empty cells are power. Each free cell or empty column multiplies how many cards you can move at once, so keep them clear.
- Plan the aces first. Before touching anything, trace how you will dig out every ace and the low cards above them.
- Empty a whole column early if you can, an empty column is worth more than all four free cells combined.
- Do not send cards to the foundations automatically. A 3 or 4 kept in play can host builds you will need later.
- Move sequences, not cards. Count your capacity ((free cells + 1) x 2 per empty column) before starting a big transfer.
FAQ
Is every FreeCell game winnable?
Very nearly. In the classic numbered set of 32,000 deals only one, #11982, is unwinnable, and modern analysis of millions of deals puts solvability above 99.99%. If you lose, there was almost certainly a line you missed, which is exactly why the game rewards replaying.
How many cards can I move at once?
Formally you move one card at a time, but empty free cells and columns let you relay a sequence. The shortcut rule: (empty free cells + 1), doubled for each empty column. With two free cells and one empty column you can move a run of six.
Should I fill all four free cells when stuck?
Almost never. Cards parked in cells are frozen until you find them a home, and a full rack leaves you moving one card at a time. Treat the cells as a revolving door, in and back out within a few moves, not a cupboard.
What makes FreeCell different from regular solitaire?
Everything is face-up, so FreeCell is pure planning where Klondike is part luck. You can, in principle, read out the whole win from the opening position, and experienced players do exactly that before their first move.
