FreeCell
The solitaire of pure skill. Every card is face up from the start, so nothing is hidden and nothing is luck. With four free cells for parking cards, almost every deal can be won if you plan it right.
How to play FreeCell
- Build four foundations. The four spaces at the top right take one suit each, from Ace up to King. Fill all four and you win.
- Build down in alternating colors. In the eight columns, a card can go on one that is one rank higher and the opposite color, like a red 8 on a black 9.
- Use the four free cells. The spaces at the top left each hold one card of any kind. They're your breathing room.
- Fill empty columns with anything. Unlike Klondike, any card or ordered run can go into an empty column.
- Cards go up by themselves when they're no longer needed in the columns, so you don't have to tap every one.
How many cards can you move at once?
Officially you move one card at a time, but the game lets you lift an ordered run in one go, as long as you'd have room to do it card by card. The limit depends on your empty spaces:
| Free cells open | No empty columns | One empty column | Two empty columns |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 card | 2 cards | 4 cards |
| 1 | 2 cards | 4 cards | 8 cards |
| 2 | 3 cards | 6 cards | 12 cards |
| 4 | 5 cards | 10 cards | 20 cards |
The rule is (open free cells + 1) × 2 for each empty column. When you move a run into an empty column, that column doesn't count.
The numbered deals
Every game here is one of the 32,000 numbered deals made famous by the FreeCell that came with Microsoft Windows, dealt with the same method, so deal #1 here is the same deal #1 millions of people have played. You can pick any number in the box beside the game and replay a deal you know.
In the mid-1990s, a volunteer effort called the Internet FreeCell Project worked through all 32,000 deals and found only one that can't be won: #11982. We never deal it at random, but you can still choose it if you want to try.
Tips that win more games
- Keep free cells empty as long as you can. Each one you fill shrinks the runs you can move.
- An empty column is worth more than two free cells. Clear a short column early.
- Find the Aces and 2s first and count how many cards sit on top of them.
- Before parking a card in a free cell, know how you'll get it back out.
- Use Undo freely. FreeCell is a puzzle, and trying a line is part of solving it.
Related games
If you like seeing every card, try Yukon, where most cards are face up and any face-up card can move. For a gentler game, there's always Klondike.