FreeCell Solitaire: Rules, Setup and How to Play

FreeCell is a single-player card game in the solitaire (or “patience”) family, played with one standard 52-card deck. What sets it apart is that every card is dealt face-up from the start, so there is no hidden draw pile and almost nothing is left to luck. The entire game becomes a logic puzzle: can you reorganise the layout, using four small holding spaces called free cells, to build all four suits up in order? This guide explains the board, the rules, how to deal and play a hand, the all-important rule for moving groups of cards, and the most common mistakes that trap new players.

What FreeCell is and where it came from

FreeCell belongs to the wider world of solitaire card games, but it is unusual because it is very nearly a game of pure skill. In most solitaire variants, cards stay hidden until you uncover them, so you can be dealt a hand that cannot be won no matter how well you play. In FreeCell, the whole deck is visible on the table from move one, which means the outcome rests on your planning rather than on the shuffle.

The game was created in 1978 by Paul Alfille, then a medical student at the University of Illinois. He adapted an earlier game called Baker’s Game — described by Martin Gardner in a 1968 “Mathematical Games” column — by changing the tableau so that cards are built in alternating colours instead of by suit. Alfille wrote the first computer version for the PLATO educational computer system. FreeCell reached a mass audience through Microsoft: a shareware MS-DOS version appeared in 1988, and the game has been bundled with Microsoft Windows since Windows 95, where many people first met it.

The board: free cells, foundations and the tableau

A FreeCell layout has three distinct areas. Understanding what each one does is the whole game, so it is worth learning the vocabulary before you deal.

• The free cells — four empty holding spaces, usually shown in the top-left. Each cell can hold exactly one card at a time. They are temporary parking spots that let you shift cards out of the way to reach what is buried beneath them.
• The foundations — four spaces, usually top-right, one for each suit. This is where you win the game: each foundation is built up in order starting with the Ace, then 2, 3 and so on up to the King of that suit.
• The tableau — the eight columns that make up the main playing area, where all 52 cards begin. You rearrange cards here to free up the ones you need.

You win when all 52 cards have been moved onto the foundations — every suit complete from Ace to King.

How to deal and set up a game

Shuffle a standard 52-card deck and deal all of it face-up into eight tableau columns. The first four columns receive seven cards each and the last four columns receive six cards each (4 × 7 + 4 × 6 = 52). The four free cells and four foundations start empty. If you are playing a physical game at the table rather than on screen, leave room at the top for those eight empty spaces so you can see the whole layout at once.

The rules of play

Only the bottom (most exposed) card of each tableau column is available to move at any moment, along with any orderly run sitting on top of it. There are four kinds of legal move, and they follow simple, consistent rules.

• Tableau to tableau: you may place a card onto another tableau card that is one rank higher and the opposite colour. For example, a red 7 goes onto a black 8. This builds the columns downward in alternating colours.
• Tableau to free cell: any single available card may be moved into an empty free cell to get it out of the way.
• Free cell back to tableau: a card parked in a free cell can return to the tableau at any time, as long as it lands on a card one rank higher of the opposite colour.
• Onto a foundation: move an Ace to start a foundation, then add the 2, 3, 4 and so on of that same suit in order. Cards on the foundations are effectively locked away and are not normally moved back down.

An empty tableau column is special: unlike Klondike solitaire, where only a King may start a new column, in FreeCell any card or legal run can be moved into an empty column. That flexibility is one of the most powerful resources in the game.

Moving a group of cards: the supermove rule

Strictly speaking, FreeCell lets you move only one card at a time. But because a free cell or an empty column can each hold a card temporarily, the game usually lets you shift a whole run in a single action — a “supermove”. The size of the run you can move is limited by how much free space you have, and it follows a clear formula:

• Maximum cards moved = (1 + number of empty free cells) × 2^{(number of empty columns)}

So with all four free cells empty and no empty columns, you can move five cards at once (1 + 4 = 5). Add one empty column and that figure doubles to ten; add a second empty column and it doubles again to twenty. There is one important catch: if you are moving a run into an empty column, that destination column can no longer be counted as free space, so the limit is effectively halved for that move. Keeping free cells and columns open is therefore what gives you “move power”, and spending it carelessly is what ends most games.

Core strategy for winning more games

FreeCell rewards looking several moves ahead rather than grabbing the first available play. A few principles carry most beginners from frequent losses to a high win rate. For a deeper tactical treatment, see our dedicated FreeCell strategy guide; the essentials are below.

• Find the Aces first. Because foundations start with Aces, scan the deal for all four and work out what is sitting on top of them. Freeing the Aces and 2s early clears space and gets the foundations moving.
• Protect your free cells. Try to keep at least one free cell open. Filling all four with cards that have nowhere to go is the fastest way to a dead position where even a two-card run cannot be shifted.
• Prize empty columns. Creating an empty tableau column early is often worth spending a couple of free cells on, because an empty column dramatically increases how many cards you can move at once.
• Do not rush cards to the foundations. A card sent to a foundation cannot easily come back to help the tableau. If you send up every low card immediately, you may lose the alternating-colour “landing spots” you need. A common guideline is to keep the foundations roughly within two ranks of each other.

Common mistakes to avoid

Most lost games trace back to a handful of avoidable errors. Watching for these will improve your results quickly.

• Clogging all four free cells before you have a plan to empty them.
• Moving an Ace or low card to a foundation when it was still useful in the tableau.
• Burying a card you will soon need under a long run you cannot easily lift again.
• Playing fast and clicking the obvious move instead of pausing to read the whole layout — the information is all there, so use it.

How FreeCell compares with other solitaire games

FreeCell is one of several popular one-player card games, and it helps to see where it sits. The table below compares it with other variants covered on this site, so you can pick the style that suits you.

If you enjoy a puzzle where skill decides the result, FreeCell is hard to beat. If you prefer a mix of luck and decision-making, the classic draw-pile games are a better fit. Our overview of the best solitaire games is a good starting point for exploring the wider family.

Popular FreeCell variants

Once the standard game feels comfortable, several close relatives change the difficulty by adjusting the number of free cells or the way the tableau is built. They are worth knowing because the same core instincts — protect your spaces, dig out the low cards — carry straight across.

• Baker’s Game: the game FreeCell was adapted from. It plays identically except that the tableau is built down by suit rather than by alternating colours, which makes it noticeably harder because fewer cards can legally sit on one another.
• Eight Off: deals the cards slightly differently and provides eight free cells instead of four, but only lets a King move into an empty column. The extra cells make it gentler on new players.
• Three-cell and two-cell FreeCell: the same rules with fewer holding spaces. Removing cells sharply cuts how many cards you can move at once, raising the challenge for experienced players.
• Double FreeCell: a two-deck version with more columns and more cells, offering a longer, more complex puzzle.

Each variant rewards the same disciplined, think-ahead approach, so skills built in standard FreeCell transfer well.

Where to play FreeCell

You can play FreeCell with nothing more than a physical deck of cards and a clear table, laying out the eight columns and leaving space for the free cells and foundations. Most people, though, play digitally. A version ships with Microsoft Windows, and free browser-based and mobile versions are widely available. Digital versions handle the shuffle, enforce the rules, let you undo moves, and often give each deal a number so you can replay or share a specific layout.

Is every FreeCell game winnable?

Almost, but not quite. Study after study has found that the overwhelming majority of random FreeCell deals can be solved — estimates put it at around 99.999%, or roughly one unsolvable deal in tens of thousands. The most famous example is deal #11982, which is the only unsolvable game among the original “Microsoft 32,000” numbered deals. In practice, if you lose a hand, it is almost always because a winning line existed and was missed, not because the deal was impossible. That is exactly why FreeCell appeals to players who like a fair, skill-based challenge rather than a game decided by chance.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What are the four empty slots at the top of a FreeCell board?

They are the free cells. Each one can hold a single card at a time, giving you temporary space to move cards out of the way and reach the ones buried beneath them.

How are the cards dealt in FreeCell?

All 52 cards are dealt face-up into eight tableau columns. The first four columns get seven cards each and the last four get six cards each, and the free cells and foundations start empty.

How many cards can I move at once?

As many as (1 + the number of empty free cells) multiplied by two for each empty tableau column. With four empty cells and no empty columns that is five cards; each empty column doubles the figure. Moving a run into an empty column lowers the limit, because that column can no longer count as free space.

Is every game of FreeCell winnable?

Nearly every deal can be solved — around 99.999% by most estimates. A tiny fraction are impossible; the best-known example is deal #11982, the only unsolvable game in Microsoft’s original set of 32,000 numbered deals.

How is FreeCell different from Klondike solitaire?

Every card is face-up from the start, so there is no hidden draw pile and the game is almost pure skill. FreeCell also lets any card move into an empty column, whereas Klondike allows only a King to start one.