FreeCell Solitaire

FreeCell shows you everything. All 52 cards lie face up from the first move, so nothing depends on luck once the deal is on the table. What remains is planning: how to untangle eight columns using four temporary parking spots. That is why FreeCell players talk about it as a puzzle more than a card game.

Rules step by step

1. The deal. Eight columns, called cascades, are dealt face up. The first four hold seven cards each, the last four hold six.
2. Free cells. Four cells sit above the table. Each holds exactly one card, and you can take it out again whenever you like.
3. Foundations. Four piles, one per suit, build from ace to king.
4. Build down in alternating colors. On a cascade, a card goes on a card one rank higher and of the opposite color. A black 5 fits on a red 6.
5. Move one card at a time, or a run. Strictly, you move a single card. In practice you can move a whole ordered run if you have enough free cells and empty columns to shuffle it across, and the game does that for you in one step.
6. Empty cascades. Any card, or any part of a run, can go into an empty cascade.
7. Win when all four foundations hold thirteen cards.

How long a run can move

The limit depends on how much spare room you have. With n empty free cells and m empty cascades, the longest run that can move onto a cascade that already holds cards is (n + 1) × 2 to the power of m. Two empty cells and one empty cascade let you carry 3 × 2 = 6 cards. Moving onto an empty cascade, that cascade does not help, so the same room carries only 3 cards. The game checks this for you and refuses a run that is too long. A partial run is fine: if the full run is too long, you can move the lower part of it.

Scoring is deliberately plain. FreeCell counts your moves and your time, nothing else.

Strategy

• Plan before you touch a card. Look at where the aces and twos are buried and which cascades cover them. Decide an order, then move.
• Empty a cascade early. An empty cascade is worth more than an empty cell, because it doubles how far a run can travel.
• Keep the cells open. Every occupied cell shrinks the runs you can carry. Park a card only when that frees something better.
• Do not fill an empty cascade with a single stray card. Put a run there that you want to keep moving, or a card whose partners are about to follow.
• Dig the low cards first. Ace to four are the cards that start the foundations. Anything covering them is a priority.
• Count before you commit. If you fill the cells first and the run will not fit across afterwards, the cells you spent were the ones that would have carried it.
• Watch the autoplay. The game sends a card to its foundation only when that cannot hurt you, and never takes one back down.

The FreeCell strategy guide adds decision rules and worked run-capacity examples.

Frequently asked questions

Is every FreeCell deal solvable?

Not every random shuffle is. The deals offered here are drawn from a pool in which an offline solver found a winning line for every one. A solution exists, though finding it can still take thought. A deal that does not come from the pool is labelled as not checked.

Why does the game move several cards at once?

Dragging a run is a shortcut for many single moves through cells and empty cascades. The game checks that the room is there before it allows the move.

Can I undo a move?

Yes, without limit, and you can redo too. The hint shows a legal move, not necessarily a helpful one.

What is a good first move?

Look for an ace or a two near the top of a cascade. If none is reachable, count how many moves it takes to expose the closest one.

Is there a score?

Only moves and time. Fewer moves is the usual way to compare two wins.

Related games

If you like to think a few moves ahead, Pyramid rewards counting cards in a very different setting. Spider offers a longer test, and Klondike is the classic. The rules of each are on one page at how to play, and the shared puzzle of the day is on the daily page.

Last updated 2026-10-30