FreeCell rules

The patience where nothing is hidden. Every card is face up from the first move, so there is no luck after the deal — and almost every deal can be solved. All 52 cards go into eight columns, and four free cells hold one card each while you dig for the card you need. The aim is to build four foundations from ace to king, one per suit. Because nothing is left to chance, every deal is a puzzle you can think through before you make a move.

The layout

Eight columns, all 52 cards dealt face up: seven cards in each of the first four columns and six in each of the last four.

Four free cells sit at the top left, each holding one card. Four foundation spaces sit at the top right.

The goal

Build the four foundations from ace to king, one per suit.

The moves

Move the bottom card of any column onto another column's bottom card, if it is one rank lower and the opposite colour. Move any single card into an empty free cell, and out again to a column or foundation later. Play any available card to its foundation. An empty column may be filled by any card at all — not just a king.

Moving sequences

Strictly, you may only move one card at a time. Most implementations let you drag a sequence, which is really just a shorthand for moving cards through the free cells one by one. The number you can move at once is (free cells + 1) × 2 for each empty column — so keeping cells and columns free is the whole game.

What makes it hard

Every deal is fully visible, so a loss is your fault rather than the deck's. Of the 32000 numbered Microsoft deals, exactly one — number 11982 — has been proven unsolvable.

The first thing to do in any deal is find the aces and count how many cards sit on top of them.

FreeCell: an example game

One game of FreeCell followed from the deal to the finish, move by move, with the reason for each choice.

The deal

All 52 cards are dealt face up into eight columns, and there are four empty free cells and four empty foundations. The cards at the bottom of the columns — the ones you can move — are 5♦, A♠, 7♣, 2♠, 6♥, Q♣, 8♦ and A♦.

Because nothing is hidden, the first minute is for looking. Here the black and red aces are free already, and the 2♠ is too, which is a good start.

The free cards

A♠ from column 2 goes to a foundation, uncovering 9♥. A♦ from column 8 goes up, uncovering 3♣. 2♠ from column 4 follows the ace of spades, uncovering K♦.

Next, 6♥ from column 5 goes on 7♣ in column 3 — red on black, one lower. That uncovers 2♦, which goes up on the ace of diamonds, and column 5 now ends in J♠.

Using a free cell

The 3♦ you want next is under 3♣ in column 8. So 3♣ goes into a free cell for a moment, and 3♦ goes up to the foundation. That uncovers 4♠, which fits on 5♦ in column 1, and column 8 now ends in 10♣.

A card in a cell is only worth parking if it opens something up, and it should come out again as soon as it can. This one is waiting for a red four.

Moving runs

Column 3 ends 7♣ 6♥, and column 7 ends with 8♦. The two-card run moves onto 8♦. With three empty free cells and no empty columns you may move up to four cards at once — the empty cells plus one — so two is easily allowed. That uncovers 9♠ in column 3.

Now the whole three-card run 8♦ 7♣ 6♥ can go back onto 9♠ in column 3, which uncovers 3♠ in column 7. It goes up to the spade foundation, and column 7 ends in 4♥.

Emptying the cell

4♥ is the red four the parked club was waiting for. 3♣ comes out of its cell and onto 4♥, and all four free cells are empty again. Finally, Q♣ from column 6 goes on K♦ in column 4, uncovering 5♣.

Spades are up to the three, diamonds up to the three, no cell is in use, and column 3 holds a run from 9♠ down to 6♥.

What the opening shows

Every move freed a card or built a run, and the one card that went into a cell came out again a few moves later. Keeping cells empty is what keeps runs movable: with all four free and no empty column, five cards can move at once; with one empty column as well, ten.

Most FreeCell deals can be won, so a game that gets stuck is usually a cell filled too early or a column filled with the wrong card, not bad luck.