FreeCell

What is FreeCell?

FreeCell is the solitaire where almost every deal can be won by thinking, not luck. All 52 cards are dealt face up into eight columns, and four free cells give you room to shuffle cards around while you build each suit from ace to king on the foundations. This version plays the classic numbered deals from 1 to 1,000,000, so game #617 here is the same #617 you may know from other FreeCell games, and you can type in any number or deal a random one.

It's built for touch and mouse: drag cards, or tap a card and it jumps to the best spot (its foundation, then a column it builds on, then a free cell). Runs of cards move together whenever you have the room, safe cards fly home on their own, Undo is unlimited, and Hint asks a built-in solver for a move that keeps the game winnable. Your game, time and statistics are saved on your device.

How to play FreeCell

1. Goal: move all 52 cards to the four foundations, one suit each, from ace up to king.
2. In the columns, build down in alternating colours: a red 6 can go on a black 7. Any card or valid run can go into an empty column.
3. Each free cell holds one card. Use them to park cards that are in the way, then bring them back as soon as you can.
4. Drag a card or a run to move it, or tap it to send it to the best place. Double-tap a card to send it to its foundation.
5. Runs move as a group when you have room: up to (free cells + 1) × 2 for every empty column. Use Undo freely and Hint when you're stuck.

FreeCell tips and strategy

• Free the aces and twos early: look for them before your first move and plan how to dig them out.
• Free cells are precious. Before filling the last one, check that you can empty one again soon.
• An empty column is worth more than a free cell: it doubles the length of the run you can move.
• Avoid burying low cards: build long runs on top of high cards like kings and queens instead.
• If a hint says the position can't be won any more, undo back a few moves; the mistake is usually a free cell filled too early.
• Try famous deals from the Game number box: #1 and #617 are classics, and #11982 is the deal no one can win.

FreeCell rules in full

FreeCell uses one standard 52-card deck dealt face up into eight columns: the first four get seven cards and the last four get six. Above them are four free cells, each holding any single card, and four foundations, which are built up by suit from ace to king. Only the bottom card of a column (the one fully visible) and the cards in the free cells can be moved. A card can go onto a column whose bottom card is one rank higher and the opposite colour, into an empty free cell, into an empty column, or onto its foundation. You win when all four foundations reach the king.

Officially cards move one at a time, but moving a run of cards is just a shortcut for moving them one by one through the free cells and empty columns. That's why the size of a run you can move is limited to (free cells + 1) × 2 to the power of the number of empty columns. With two free cells and one empty column you can move six cards to another column; moving into the empty column itself, the limit is three. If you try to move more, the game tells you how many fit.

FreeCell strategy: how to win more games

Start every game by scanning for the aces and twos and counting how many cards sit on top of each. The columns with the fewest cards above a low card are your first targets. Emptying a whole column is often the strongest early goal, because an empty column doubles how far you can move runs and is far more flexible than a free cell.

Treat free cells as short-term parking. Filling all four with cards you can't place again soon is the most common way to lose. Prefer moves that build long ordered runs, and don't rush cards to the foundations if a lower card of the other colour still needs them as a base. This game only auto-plays cards that are safe, meaning no other card could ever need them; the rest you choose yourself.

Numbered deals and the unsolvable game #11982

The numbered deals come from a simple random number formula that early computer versions of FreeCell used to shuffle the deck, which is why the same number gives the same layout across many FreeCell games. Players have checked every one of the first million deals with computer solvers: all but eight can be won. The most famous exception is #11982, the only unsolvable deal among the first 32,000. The others are #146692, #186216, #455889, #495505, #512118, #517776 and #781948. Random deals here skip those eight, but you can still type them in to try.

The built-in solver searches for a winning line from your current position. Hint shows its next move, and if it proves that no winning line is left, the game tells you so you can undo instead of playing on for nothing. When no move at all is possible, you'll be offered Undo, Restart or a new deal.

FreeCell FAQ