In almost every patience game, the player with more space wins. Space means empty columns and, in FreeCell, empty free cells. This guide explains why and how to use them.
Why space matters
A column that is full of cards in the wrong order can only be sorted by moving cards somewhere else for a while. Every empty space is such a somewhere. With no space, you can only make the moves the deal happens to offer.
The FreeCell limit
In FreeCell you move one card at a time, and the table moves a run for you only when it could be done card by card. The limit is (empty free cells + 1), doubled for every empty column that is not the destination.
- 4 free cells, no empty column: 5 cards.
- 2 free cells, 1 empty column: (2 + 1) x 2 = 6 cards.
- 1 free cell, 2 empty columns: (1 + 1) x 2 x 2 = 8 cards.
That doubling is why an empty column is worth far more than a free cell.
Kings only: Klondike, Yukon and Scorpion
In these games only a King may go into an empty column. Do not clear a column unless a King, preferably with a useful run on it, is ready to move in. In Klondike choose the King whose colour suits the Queen you need to place.
Anything goes: Spider and Forty Thieves
Here any card may fill a gap, which makes an empty column a workbench: you can take a messy column apart, sort it and rebuild it. The worst use of an empty column is to drop a single card in it just because a move is possible. In Spider, remember that you cannot deal from the stock while a column is empty.
Canfield's reserve
In Canfield an empty column fills itself from the reserve at once. Clearing columns is how you work through the reserve, so here an empty column is never wasted.
A simple rule
Before you fill an empty space, ask what it lets you do next. If the answer is nothing, keep it empty a little longer.
Guides
- Reading a deal before your first moveWhat to look at before you touch a card.
- Which patience to playThe seven games compared, with the solver's results.