Rules
FreeCell Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use one standard 52-card deck.
- Deal all cards face up into eight tableau columns.
- The first four columns start with seven cards; the last four start with six.
- Four free cells can each hold one temporary card.
- Four foundations build upward by suit from ace to king.
- Tableau columns build downward by alternating color.
- Empty tableau columns can accept any card or legal movable sequence.
- Longer sequence moves require enough empty free cells and empty columns.
- Win by moving all 52 cards to the foundations.
How to play
How to play FreeCell Solitaire
FreeCell is a foundation-building solitaire game with nearly perfect visibility. The whole deal is on the table from the first move: eight tableau columns, four empty free cells, and four empty foundations. Your job is to move every card to the foundations, one suit at a time, from ace through king.
The tableau is where most of the puzzle happens. A card may move onto a card of the opposite color that is exactly one rank higher: a red 6 can go on a black 7, a black queen can go on a red king, and so on. Free cells are short-term parking spaces. They are powerful because they open columns, but every occupied free cell also makes future sequence moves harder.
Background
What is FreeCell Solitaire?
FreeCell is a one-deck patience game in the same broad family as Klondike, but it changes the bargain completely. Instead of drawing unknown cards from a stock, you begin with the whole deal visible. The puzzle is not about lucking into the next useful card; it is about using a small amount of temporary space well enough to untangle the tableau.
The game became widely known through computer solitaire collections, especially after it appeared in Microsoft Windows in the 1990s. Its earlier computerized roots are usually linked to Paul Alfille's FreeCell program for the PLATO system. That software history helps explain why modern FreeCell players expect conveniences such as undo, quick sequence moves, and numbered deals, even though the underlying card rules are older-style patience rules.
Layout
The FreeCell layout on this page
- The left side of the top row holds four free cells.
- The right side holds four foundations, one for each suit.
- The tableau has eight face-up columns below them.
- There is no stock pile, no waste pile, and no hidden tableau card.
- Cards moved to foundations stay there in this version.
Moves
Legal FreeCell moves
A legal FreeCell move has to respect both rank and space. A single tableau card can move to a matching tableau card, an empty free cell, an empty tableau column, or its own foundation if the foundation is ready for it. A card in a free cell can move back to the tableau or up to a foundation.
Foundations are strict. An ace starts its suit. The 2 of that suit goes on the ace, the 3 goes on the 2, and the pile continues upward to the king. The tableau is color-based rather than suit-based: red on black, black on red, always descending by one rank.
Tableau6 red onto 7 black
FoundationAce first, then 2, 3, 4
Free cellOne card per cell
Empty columnAny legal card or movable sequence
Free cells
How to use the four free cells
A free cell holds one card. That sounds simple, but it is the heart of the game. Moving a blocking card into a free cell can uncover an ace, release a useful low card, or let a long sequence settle into a better column.
The danger is spending all four too casually. When every free cell is occupied, the game becomes stiff. You can still move cards, but your ability to rearrange columns drops sharply. A strong FreeCell player treats an empty free cell like breathing room, not like a spare shelf that must be filled.
Empty columns
Why empty columns are so valuable
Empty tableau columns are stronger than free cells because they can hold a card or a movable sequence. This version allows any card to start an empty column. That makes empty columns flexible staging areas for rebuilding the tableau.
Empty columns also increase how many cards can move together. With no spare space, you can move only a single card. Add open free cells and empty columns, and a packed sequence can travel as if you moved it one card at a time through temporary storage.
Sequences
How multi-card moves work
A packed sequence is already in legal tableau order: descending ranks with alternating colors. For example, black 10, red 9, black 8, red 7 is packed. This site lets you select that kind of sequence and move it together when the available free cells and empty columns could support the move.
The shortcut follows the standard practical FreeCell idea: if you have nempty free cells and m empty tableau columns, you can usually move up to(n + 1) * 2^m packed cards. There is one important wrinkle: when the destination itself is an empty column, that column cannot also be used as temporary staging space for the move.
0 free cells1 card
2 free cells3 cards
4 free cells5 cards
2 free cells + 1 empty column6 cards
The practical rule is easy to feel while playing: the more empty cells and columns you keep open, the longer the sequence you can move. If the interface refuses a long run, it is not because the cards are in the wrong order; it may be because the board does not have enough temporary space to legally carry the whole run.
Difficulty
How difficult is FreeCell Solitaire?
FreeCell is easier to read than many solitaire games because there are no hidden cards. That does not make it automatic. The difficulty comes from space management: a deal can look open while every useful move quietly depends on keeping one free cell or one empty column available.
We are not publishing a fixed win-rate claim for this page yet because the honest number should come from this exact random-deal implementation and real play data. A site that offers winnable-only deals, numbered deals, auto-finish, foundation take-backs, or different move-count rules can produce very different statistics.
Strategy
FreeCell Solitaire strategy that actually changes the deal
Start by looking for buried aces and twos. Low cards are the doorway to the foundations, and freeing them often gives the whole deal more movement. Do not send every low card up automatically, though. Sometimes a 3 or 4 is still useful in the tableau because it supports a sequence that releases a more important column.
Try to create an empty column before the board gets crowded. An empty column can absorb a king, move a packed sequence out of the way, or let you rebuild a messy stack into clean alternating order. The first empty column is often the moment the deal starts to loosen.
Use free cells to solve a specific problem, not just to clear the top card of every column. A good temporary move has a purpose: it uncovers an ace, opens an empty column, or lets a longer sequence move. If you cannot explain what the free-cell move gains, it may be safer to wait.
Mistakes
Common FreeCell mistakes
- Filling all four free cells before creating an empty tableau column.
- Moving a card to the foundation while it is still needed as a tableau support.
- Breaking a packed sequence into loose cards without a clear benefit.
- Using an empty column for a low card when a king or long sequence needs that space.
- Ignoring a buried ace because a flashier tableau move is available.
- Forgetting that the move limit depends on open free cells and empty columns.
Winnability
Is FreeCell Solitaire winnable?
FreeCell is famous because most normal deals are solvable. That does not mean every possible arrangement is guaranteed, and this page does not quietly serve only pre-solved deals. The shuffle is random, and the result screen reports what happened in the deal you played.
Skill matters more here than in many hidden-card solitaire games. Since all cards are visible, a stuck position often comes from using temporary space too early, choosing the wrong empty-column plan, or sending a useful tableau card to the foundation too soon.
Scoring
How FreeCell Solitaire is scored here
This page keeps the score focused on the puzzle. A win means all 52 cards are on the foundations. The game tracks moves, occupied free cells, and foundation progress, so you can see whether a deal was solved cleanly or through a lot of rearranging.
There is no time bonus and no point penalty here. That is intentional. FreeCell rewards planning, and a quiet solve is often better than a rushed one. If you get stuck, undo is part of the learning loop rather than a failure state.
Undo restores the previous position and does not add another move in this version. Restart returns the same deal to its opening layout. New game gives you a fresh random shuffle.
This version
Deal modes, undo, and auto-finish
This FreeCell page currently offers random shuffles only. It does not yet include numbered deals, daily challenges, seeded deals, or a winnable-only mode. That is why the page avoids claiming that every deal served here is solvable.
The game also does not auto-finish the final position. Some digital FreeCell games sweep the remaining tableau cards to the foundations once the win is guaranteed. Here, you finish the foundations yourself, which keeps the rules visible and makes the final move count reflect the moves you actually made.
Variants
FreeCell variants and house rules
The main FreeCell rule differences involve empty columns, multi-card movement, and deal selection. Some strict descriptions say only one card is ever moved at a time, while many digital versions allow a packed sequence to move when the same result could be achieved through free cells and empty columns. This page uses that common digital shortcut.
Other variants change the number of free cells, the number of tableau columns, or the deck count. Baker's Game looks similar but builds tableau columns by suit instead of alternating color, which makes it much harder. Eight Off uses eight reserve cells and suit-based building, creating a different kind of planning puzzle.
Nearby games
How FreeCell compares with Klondike, Spider, and Aces Up
FreeCell is often grouped with Klondike because both build foundations by suit, but the feel is very different. Klondike hides information and uses a stock. FreeCell shows the whole problem immediately and asks whether you can manage space cleanly enough to solve it.
Spider is also about columns and sequences, but it usually uses two decks and clears long same-suit runs. Aces Up is almost the opposite of FreeCell: short, sharp, and discard-based. FreeCell is the better choice when you want a visible puzzle where careful planning has room to pay off.