FreeCell Rules: How to Play FreeCell Solitaire

FreeCell is the solitaire game where nothing is hidden. Every card is dealt face up, there is no pile to draw from, and almost every deal can be won if you think ahead. That makes it a favorite for people who enjoy a puzzle more than a gamble. Many of us first met it on the family computer in the 1990s, and it has been a lunch-break habit ever since.

This page explains the FreeCell rules from start to finish, with small worked examples along the way. These are the standard rules, and they are exactly the rules our free FreeCell game uses.

What You Need

• One standard deck of 52 playing cards, with the jokers taken out.
• A table with room for eight columns of cards and a row of eight spaces above them.
• Patience, but not much luck. FreeCell is mostly about planning.

The Layout

Shuffle the deck and deal all 52 cards face up into eight columns, going left to right across the row again and again. When you finish, the first four columns have 7 cards each and the last four have 6 cards each. Overlap the cards so you can read every one of them.

Only the card at the bottom of each column, the one nearest you and fully showing, is free to move. The cards above it are blocked until the cards covering them are moved away.

Above the columns there are two groups of four spaces:

• On the left, the four free cells.
• On the right, the four foundations.

All eight spaces start empty.

The Free Cells

Each free cell holds one card, of any suit and any rank. Think of the free cells as parking spaces. When a card is in your way, you can park it in a free cell while you work on what is underneath. A card in a free cell can later move to a foundation or onto a column, whenever there is a legal place for it.

Free cells are the heart of the game, and also its biggest trap. With four of them you have plenty of room. Fill them all up and you may find you can't move anything at all.

The Foundations

The foundations are where you want every card to end up. Each foundation holds one suit, built up in order: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King. An Ace must start each foundation, and you can only add the next card of the same suit. The 3 of hearts can go up only after the Ace and 2 of hearts are already there.

In standard FreeCell, cards on the foundations stay there. Our game also lets you use Undo if you put one up too soon.

Building Down in Alternating Colors

In the columns you build down, one rank at a time, and the colors must alternate between red and black. Suit doesn't matter, only color.

Example

The bottom card of column 3 is the black 8 of clubs. You may place either red 7 on it: the 7 of hearts or the 7 of diamonds. You may not place the 7 of spades there, because it is black, and you may not place a red 6 or a red 9, because they are not one rank lower.

If you put the 7 of hearts on the 8 of clubs, the column now ends in a red 7, so next it will take a black 6. Over time, a column can grow a long, tidy staircase: black 8, red 7, black 6, red 5, and so on.

Empty Columns

When you clear a column completely, the space is open. Any card can go into an empty column, not just a King. You can also move a whole ordered group into it, if you have enough free space (see the next section).

An empty column is more valuable than a free cell. A free cell holds one card. An empty column can hold a long sequence and still let you keep building on it.

Moving Groups of Cards (Supermoves)

Strictly speaking, the FreeCell rules say you move one card at a time. But suppose you want to move a red 7, black 6 and red 5 together onto a black 8. With two empty free cells, you could do it by hand:

1. Move the red 5 to a free cell.
2. Move the black 6 to the other free cell.
3. Move the red 7 onto the black 8.
4. Move the black 6 back onto the red 7.
5. Move the red 5 back onto the black 6.

That is five moves to get one job done. To save you the trouble, most computer versions, including ours, let you move the whole group in one go. Players call this a supermove. It is not a special rule, just a shortcut for single-card moves you could have made yourself. So the size of a group you can move depends on how much free space you have.

How many cards can you move?

The formula is: (empty free cells + 1) × 2 for each empty column. Each empty column doubles the number, because you can stack part of the group there temporarily. Here it is worked out:

One catch: if you are moving the group into an empty column, that column can't also be used as a helper. Count one fewer empty column, which halves the number. For example, with 2 empty free cells and 1 empty column, you can move 6 cards onto another column, but only 3 into the empty column itself.

Worked example

You have 1 empty free cell and 1 empty column. You want to move a 4-card run (black 9, red 8, black 7, red 6) onto a red 10. The table says (1 + 1) × 2 = 4, so the move is allowed. If one more card were added to the run, it would be too long, and our game would tell you so instead of making the move.

Good to know: in our game you can tap any card in the middle of a column. If the cards below it are in order, the whole group moves with it, as long as it isn't longer than your free space allows.

Winning the Game

You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations, each suit from Ace to King. Near the end, once every card left is in order and nothing is blocked, the result is certain. Our game notices this and finishes the game for you by putting the remaining cards up automatically.

You lose only if no legal moves are left. In our game, Undo is unlimited, so even then you can step back and try another path.

Scoring: Moves and Time

FreeCell has no standard scoring. A game is either won or not. Players who like to keep track count other things instead:

• Moves. How few moves did you need to win? Experts try to solve a deal efficiently.
• Time. How quickly did you finish? Our game has an optional timer, hidden unless you turn it on.
• Win rate and streaks. Our statistics show games played, games won, your current winning streak and your best time.

Deal Numbers

Many FreeCell players know deals by number, such as "Game #1" or "Game #617". That tradition comes from the FreeCell that came with home computers in the 1990s, which numbered its deals so friends could play the same layout and compare notes.

Our game uses that same classic numbering method for deals 1 to 1,000,000. Choose Play deal # in Settings and type a number, and you get the same layout players have known for decades.

Can every deal be won?

Very nearly. Among the first 32,000 deals, just one, #11982, is known to be impossible. In the first million, only about eight are believed to be unwinnable. When you start a new random game, we skip the known impossible ones, so you can be confident a solution exists. You can still try #11982 on purpose if you're curious.

Helpful Features in Our Game

• Tap to move. Tap a card and it goes to the best place: a foundation if it can, otherwise a column. If several columns fit, they light up so you can choose. If no column fits, a single card goes to a free cell.
• Drag and drop. If you prefer, drag cards where you want them.
• Auto-move to foundations. On by default. Cards that are safe to put up go there on their own. You can switch it off in Settings.
• Hint. Highlights a useful move with a short reason. If nothing is left, it says so and suggests Undo or a new deal.
• Undo, Restart This Deal and New Game. Unlimited undo, or start the same deal over.
• Comfort options. Four-color cards (so each suit has its own color), reduced motion, and automatic saving.

FreeCell Rules at a Glance

New to solitaire in general? The classic game is Klondike, and its rules have more luck in them. For a two-deck challenge, try Spider solitaire. Once you've got the FreeCell rules down, our FreeCell strategy guide will help you win more often, and the variations page covers harder versions with fewer free cells.