FreeCell
In FreeCell nothing is hidden. All 52 cards are face up from the first moment, so every deal is a puzzle you can think through, and almost every one of them can be won.
How to play FreeCell
FreeCell is played with one pack. All 52 cards are dealt face up into eight columns: four columns of seven cards and four of six. Above the columns are four free cells on the left and four foundations on the right.
- Build the foundations up by suit, from Ace to King.
- In the columns, build down in alternating colours: a red 8 on a black 9.
- Each free cell holds one card of any kind, and any card may leave a free cell again.
- Any card, or a run, may go into an empty column.
Strictly speaking you move one card at a time. To save clicks, the table moves a whole run at once whenever there is enough free space to do it card by card. The limit is (free cells + 1), doubled for each empty column. With two empty free cells and one empty column that makes (2 + 1) x 2 = 6 cards. When the run is going into the empty column itself, that column does not count.
Drag to move, tap for the best move, double-tap to send a card home.
Strategy and tips
Free the Aces and Twos first
Look at where the Aces sit before you move anything. An Ace under five cards is the first problem of the deal; plan how to dig it out.
Treat a free cell as a loan
Every card you park in a cell shrinks the run you can move later. Before you fill a cell, know how the card will leave it again: to a foundation or onto a column.
An empty column beats a free cell
A free cell holds one card. An empty column holds a whole run, and it doubles the size of every run you can move. Clearing a column early is often the turning point of a game.
Count before you commit
Before a long move, check the capacity: (free cells + 1) x 2 for each empty column. If the run is one card too long, free one more cell first.
Do not send cards home too soon
A black 4 on a foundation cannot hold a red 3 in a column any more. The table only sends cards up by itself when no column can still use them; with the rest, think one step ahead.
Questions and answers
Can every FreeCell deal be won?
Very nearly. Deals that cannot be won exist, but they are rare. For our numbered deals the solver won 32 of the 33 seeds it tried, and only winning deals made it into the FreeCell library.
Why won't the table move my whole run?
The run is longer than your free space allows. The limit is (empty free cells + 1), doubled for every empty column that is not the destination. Empty a cell or a column and try again.
Is there any luck in FreeCell?
Only in the deal itself. Once the cards are down, everything is visible, so the result depends on your planning alone.
What does the automatic move to the foundations do?
It sends a card home when no card in the columns could still be built on it. You can switch it off in the menu if you prefer to move every card yourself.
