FreeCell

How do you play FreeCell?

All 52 cards are dealt face up into eight columns, four columns of seven cards and four of six. Across the top are four free cells on the left, each able to hold one card, and four foundation piles on the right.

The aim is to build each foundation from Ace to King in a single suit. When all 52 cards are on the foundations you win.

• Build down on the columns in alternating colours: a red 6 goes on a black 7.
• Move only the bottom card of a column, or a run of cards that is already in order.
• Park any single card in an empty free cell to get it out of the way. A cell holds one card only.
• Any card, or any run, can be moved into an empty column.
• Move cards to the foundations whenever they are next in sequence.

What are supermoves and how many cards can I move?

Officially you move one card at a time, but you may move a whole run if you could do it card by card using the free cells and empty columns. Players call that a supermove, and the game does the shuffling for you.

The rule is simple. With no empty column, you can move as many cards as free cells plus one. Each empty column doubles that number. So with two free cells and no empty columns you can move three cards, and with two free cells and one empty column you can move six. When the destination itself is an empty column, it does not count toward the doubling.

If you try to move more cards than allowed, the game tells you how many you can move. This is the most important number in FreeCell, so keep an eye on it before you fill your last cell.

Numbered deals: what is deal number 1?

Every FreeCell deal here has a number, using the same shuffle as the classic Microsoft game. Deal number 1 gives the same layout it did on Windows, so you can compare notes with other players, or return to a favourite. You can type any number from 1 to 1,000,000.

Microsoft's original 32,000 deals were all tested, and all but one of them can be won. The exception is deal 11982. The random deal button picks only deals that are known to be winnable, and the page tells you whether the deal you chose is known to be winnable.

Is every FreeCell game winnable?

Almost. About 99.99 percent of all FreeCell deals can be won, which is why the game has a reputation as one where skill, not luck, decides the result. A few deals, such as number 11982, have no solution, and in a million possible deals only a handful are known to be unwinnable.

That also means that when you lose, it nearly always came down to a decision you made. Use Undo freely and try the other branch. Our Hint does not just look one move ahead: it searches for a line that wins from your current position, so if it shows you a move, there is a way through.

Controls: tap, drag and keyboard

Tap a card and it moves to the best place it can go: a foundation first, then a column. If there are several choices, it is selected and the places you can send it light up, and you tap one. Dragging works for single cards and runs. Tap an empty free cell to drop the selected card there.

With a keyboard, the arrow keys move a cursor over the table, Enter or Space picks up and drops, and Escape cancels. The game plays safe cards to the foundations for you, such as Aces, twos and cards whose partners are already home. You can turn that off in the setup screen.

FreeCell strategy: how to win

Look before you move. The first minute of thinking usually saves ten minutes of undoing.

• Plan for the Aces and twos first. Find where they are buried and dig towards them.
• Keep free cells empty as long as you can. Every full cell halves what you can move.
• Try to make an empty column early and then use it carefully, not as a dumping ground.
• Avoid burying a low card of a suit under a higher card of the same suit in the same column.
• Build long sequences on columns that are already in order, so you can later move them with a supermove.
• Before you use your last free cell, check that you have a way to get a card back out of it.
• If you are stuck, step back with Undo and look at the card you moved first. Usually the problem started early.

Common FreeCell mistakes to avoid

The most common mistake is filling the free cells in the first few moves. It feels like progress, but each full cell cuts the length of the run you can move, and soon nothing can move at all. The second is emptying a column and then using it to park a single card. An empty column can take a whole run, so keep it for a moment when you can use that.

A third mistake is moving a card onto a column just because it fits. Ask what that card is covering and what you will need next. If the card beneath is a low card you need soon, you have only made the dig deeper. Finally, many players ignore the Aces and twos until late. Always know where all four Aces are before you decide your first move.

Hints, undo and auto-finish

Press Hint and the game searches for a winning route from your position. This can take a moment, and it then highlights the card and where it should go. If no route exists from here, you are told so and can undo to an earlier position. The hint is real, so it makes a good teacher: ask why the move helps.

Undo is free and unlimited, and steps back over moves the game played for you. When only foundation moves are left, Auto-finish appears and plays the remaining cards home.

Daily deal, statistics and saved games

The daily deal is a winnable deal chosen from the date, the same for everyone. Your wins, streaks and best times for numbered and daily deals are stored in this browser, and your current game is saved after each move so you can come back to it.

FreeCell for seniors and beginners

Because nothing is hidden, FreeCell suits people who like to think. There is no time pressure and you can pause or undo whenever you want. If you are new, start with a random deal, learn the supermove rule, and use Hint whenever you are unsure. Many players say it feels more like a puzzle than a card game.

History of FreeCell

FreeCell goes back to 1978, when Paul Alfille wrote a version for the PLATO computer system. Microsoft's version, with its numbered deals, shipped with Windows from the mid 1990s, which is how most people learned it. The numbered deals, and the fact that only one of the first 32,000 cannot be won, became part of the game's lore.