Rules · 1 player

How to play FreeCell

Move all fifty-two cards to the four foundations, each built up from ace to king in a single suit, using four single-card holding cells as working space.

The rules, step by step

1
All the cards are dealt face up into eight columns — the first four hold seven cards, the last four hold six.
2
Build the columns downward in alternating colours, exactly as in solitaire: a red six goes on a black seven.
3
Any exposed card can be parked in an empty holding cell, and taken back out later to any legal spot.
4
An empty column will accept any card at all, which makes it far more valuable than a spare cell.
5
Send aces to the foundations as they become free, then build each foundation up in suit.
6
Tap a card to pick it up and tap where it goes, or tap it twice to send it somewhere sensible automatically.

Three tips that change how you play

Empty a column before you fill your cells. A free column is worth more than a free cell, because it holds a whole ordered run rather than one card.
Count your moves before you start one. The number of cards you can shift at once is set by how much space you have, so a move that looks legal can simply be too big.
Work out where the aces are buried in the first minute. The column holding the deepest ace is usually the one to attack first.

Why the move you want is too big

Suppose you have an ordered run of five cards — black nine, red eight, black seven, red six, black five — and a red ten waiting in another column. The whole run belongs on that ten. Whether you can move it depends entirely on your space: with two cells free and no empty columns you can move three cards, so the answer is no. Free a third cell and it becomes four, still not enough. Empty a single column instead and the limit doubles to six, and the run goes across in one go. That is the whole strategy of FreeCell in one move — you are not really moving five cards, you are parking four of them one at a time and putting them back, and the limit is simply how much room that needs.

Three mistakes that cost beginners the game

Filling all four cells early because there was somewhere to put things.: Every card in a cell shrinks how many cards you can move at once. Four full cells means you can only move one card at a time, which is how a winnable board turns into a dead one. Park a card only when you know how it comes back out.
Dropping a king into a hard-won empty column.: An empty column is the most powerful thing on the board — it doubles how much you can move. Filling it with a king you do not need to move trades your best asset for almost nothing.
Rushing every card to the foundations as soon as it fits.: A five sent home early may be the only place a black four can land later. Send aces and twos up freely, but leave middle cards on the table until both foundations of the opposite colour have caught up.

Common questions about FreeCell

Is every FreeCell deal winnable?

Very nearly. Of the classic numbered deals only one is known to be unsolvable, and randomly generated boards are solvable in the overwhelming majority of cases. If you are stuck, there is almost certainly a line you have not found — undo and try a different order.

How many cards can I move at once?

One, plus one for every free cell, doubled for every empty column. Four free cells and one empty column lets you move ten. Moving into the empty column itself does not count it, because you cannot stage cards through the place you are filling.

How is it different from ordinary solitaire?

Klondike hides most of the deck and gives you a stock to draw from, so luck decides a lot. FreeCell shows you everything at the start and gives you four cells instead of a stock, which turns it from a game of chance into a puzzle.

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