FreeCell Rules: Setup, Free Cells and Moving Cards
Updated
FreeCell is a one-deck solitaire in which all 52 cards are dealt face up into eight columns. You build down in alternating colors, park single cards in four free cells, and win when every suit sits on its foundation from ace to king. Since nothing is hidden, almost every deal can be won with careful planning.
The FreeCell layout
Every standard game starts from the same four parts.
| Part | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Tableau | Eight columns with all 52 cards face up: four columns of seven cards and four of six |
| Free cells | Four empty spaces, each able to hold one card of any rank |
| Foundations | Four empty spaces, one per suit, built up from ace to king |
| Stock | None: the whole deck is dealt at the start, so there is nothing left to draw |
The last card of each column is the one you can play. The cards above it wait until everything below them has moved.
FreeCell rules step by step
- Move only the last card of a column or a card sitting in a free cell.
- Put a card on a card one rank higher and of the opposite color: a red 9 goes on a black 10.
- Put any single card into an empty free cell. A free cell holds one card at a time.
- Put any card, or any ordered run, into an empty column. Unlike Klondike, the card does not have to be a king.
- Send an ace to an empty foundation as soon as it is free, then build that suit upward: 2, 3, 4 and so on to the king.
- You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations. When no useful move is left, the deal is lost, or you undo and try another line.
In the standard rules, a card placed on a foundation stays there. Some computer versions let you take it back to the tableau, so check your game's own rules.
How many cards can you move at once?
Strictly, FreeCell moves one card at a time. Moving a run of cards is a shortcut for a chain of single moves that pass through empty free cells and empty columns. Players call this a supermove, and most computer versions perform it for you when you drag a run.
The size of run you can move follows a simple formula given in Wikipedia's FreeCell article: add one to the number of empty free cells, then double the result for every empty column.
| Empty free cells | Empty columns | Longest run onto another card |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 2 | 12 |
When the run goes into an empty column, that column cannot help, so the limit is half the number in the table. If your game refuses a drag, you do not have enough empty space for that run.
Is every FreeCell deal winnable?
Almost. Wikipedia estimates that about 99.999 percent of deals can be solved. In the classic numbered set of 32,000 deals that came with Windows, only deal 11982 has no solution, according to the FreeCell FAQ by Solitaire Laboratory.
That makes FreeCell different from Klondike or Spider, where luck plays a bigger part. A lost FreeCell game usually means a better line existed, which is why undo is so useful here.
Tips that win more FreeCell games
- Look at the whole layout before your first move. Find the aces and twos and count how many cards sit below each one.
- Keep free cells empty as long as you can. Each filled cell shortens the longest run you can move.
- Treat an empty column as your most valuable space. It doubles the run you can move, so it is worth far more than a free cell.
- Empty a short column early when its cards have somewhere to go. Columns of six cards are the natural first targets.
- Think twice before putting a king in a free cell. It can only leave for an empty column or its foundation.
- Send cards to the foundations when nothing still needs them. A red 7 is safe to send home once both black 6s are already there, because no card could be placed on it any more.
- Build long ordered runs only when they free a card you need. A tidy column that buries an ace is not progress.
- Use undo to test a plan. Many deals turn on one early choice.
Common mistakes
- Filling all four free cells. With no cell left, you can only move one card at a time and the game locks quickly.
- Dropping a single low card into an empty column. That column is gone as a working space until you clear it again.
- Playing a move just because it is legal. In FreeCell every card is visible, so each move should serve a plan.
- Bringing Klondike habits along. Here an empty column takes any card, and there is no stock to rescue a blocked game.
FreeCell variants
FreeCell grew out of older solitaires, and several relatives use the same idea of open cells.
| Variant | What changes |
|---|---|
| Baker's Game | The same layout as FreeCell, but columns are built down in suit, not in alternating colors; it is harder to win |
| Eight Off | Eight columns of six cards, eight cells with four already filled, building down in suit; most rules allow only kings in an empty column |
| Relaxed FreeCell | Moving a run is not limited by the number of empty cells |
| Fewer cells | The same game with one, two or three free cells; each cell you remove makes the deal harder |
Solitaire The Collection includes Eight Off alongside FreeCell, so you can try both in one place.
Play FreeCell in your browser
Solitaire Freecell Frenzy plays the standard rules: four foundations from ace to king in matching suits, tableau columns in alternating colors and free cells for planning. Solitaire 8 Collection includes FreeCell among eight classic solitaires, deals from a list checked to have a solution, and gives free hints and unlimited undo; press P for a hint and Z to undo.
Solitaire The Collection holds 33 card game variants, among them FreeCell and Eight Off, with hints and undo. Solitaire 15in1 Collection starts from FreeCell and Klondike and adds more variants with their own rules.
More card and thinking games are in the puzzles category and the brain collection.
FreeCell FAQ
Can you put any card in an empty column in FreeCell?
Yes. Any card, or any run you have room to move, can go into an empty column. Only some relatives, such as Eight Off, limit empty columns to kings.
Can you move more than one card at a time in FreeCell?
Only as a shortcut. The game counts a run as a chain of single moves, so the length you can move depends on your empty free cells and empty columns, as in the table above.
Can you take a card back from the foundation?
Not in the standard rules: once a card is on its foundation, it stays there. A few computer versions allow it as an option.
What is the difference between FreeCell and Klondike?
FreeCell deals every card face up and has no stock, while Klondike hides most cards and gives you a stock to draw from. How to play solitaire covers Klondike rules, Spider solitaire rules covers the two-deck game, and types of solitaire puts six games side by side.
Keep your free cells and empty columns open for as long as you can, and most FreeCell deals will come out.
