How to play FreeCell
FreeCell is a solitaire game with nothing hidden: every card is face up from the first move, so winning is a matter of planning, not luck. You win by moving all 52 cards onto the four foundations at the top right, each built in one suit from ace up to king.
The layout
The whole pack is dealt face up into eight columns, seven cards in the first four and six in the rest. At the top left are four free cells, each of which can hold one card. At the top right are the four foundations.
Moving cards
- In the columns, build downwards in alternating colours: a red 6 goes on a black 7.
- Any card can go into an empty column.
- Any card can be parked in an empty free cell, one card to a cell.
- A card from a free cell can go back to a column or up to a foundation.
- Once a card is on a foundation it stays there.
Tap a card to send it to the best place it fits, or drag it there yourself.
Moving several cards at once
Strictly, FreeCell moves one card at a time. A run of cards is moved by shuffling its cards through the free cells and empty columns, and the game does that for you in one go. How long a run you can move depends on how much room you have:
| Empty free cells | Cards you can move |
|---|---|
| None | 1 |
| One | 2 |
| Two | 3 |
| Three | 4 |
| Four | 5 |
Each empty column doubles that number. Moving a run into an empty column does not count that column.
Cards that go up by themselves
After each move, any card that is no longer needed in the columns goes up to its foundation automatically. A card counts as no longer needed once both cards of the opposite colour that are one rank lower are already up. Aces and twos always go up.
Undo, hints and finishing
Undo takes back one move at a time, along with any cards that went up after it. Hint points out a useful move if it can see one. When no card is left sitting on a lower one, the Finish for me button plays out the rest.
Deal numbers
The deals are the classic numbered FreeCell deals, 1 to 32000, with the same cards for each number as the original computer game. The number of your deal is shown under the table.
To play a particular deal, press Choose deal and enter its number. You can also link straight to a deal by adding its number to the address, like this: /freecell/?deal=617.
Tips for winning more often
- Read the whole table before you move. Find the aces and twos and work out what is on top of them.
- Keep the free cells empty for as long as you can. A full set of cells leaves you one card at a time.
- Empty a column early. An empty column is worth more than a free cell, because it can hold a whole run.
- Do not fill an empty column with the first card to hand. Save it for a king or for a long run.
- Build long runs on high cards. A run started on a king never has to move again.
- If you are stuck, use Undo to go back to where you last had a free choice.
Can every deal be won?
Here, yes. Of the 32,000 classic deals, players around the world have solved every one except deal 11982, and New deal never gives you that one. Some deals are much harder than others, so a deal that looks hopeless may only need a different opening.
If you would like to see the famous exception for yourself, choose deal 11982 by number.