FreeCell

1 Setup

Deal all 52 cards into 8 columns: columns 1–4 get 7 cards each, columns 5–8 get 6 cards each. All cards are face-up from the start. Four free cells (empty slots) sit above the left; four foundation piles above the right.

2 Free Cells & Foundations

Free cells: Each holds exactly one card of any rank or suit. Cards in free cells are always available to move. Use them as temporary parking spaces to reorganize the tableau.

Foundations: Build up by suit from Ace to King. Moving a card to a foundation is final (in standard rules), you cannot take it back. Win by moving all 52 cards to the foundations.

3 Legal Moves

Cards can be moved to:

• A free cell, one card only, any card
• A tableau column, must go on a card one rank higher and the opposite color (red on black, black on red)
• A foundation, must be the next rank up in the same suit (Ace first, then 2, 3… up to King)
• An empty column, any card or supermove group

4 Supermoves

You can move a group of properly sequenced cards (alternating colors, descending rank) as if they were one card, called a supermove. The number of cards you can supermove depends on how many free cells and empty columns you have:

Max cards to move = (free cells + 1) × 2^(empty columns)

With 4 free cells and 0 empty columns: (4+1) × 1 = 5 cards. With 2 free cells and 1 empty column: (2+1) × 2 = 6 cards.

5 Strategy

Plan Multiple Moves Ahead

FreeCell is won by logic, not luck. Always think 3–5 moves ahead. A move that looks good now might create an irreversible blockage later.

Protect Your Free Cells

Filling all 4 free cells simultaneously is almost always a losing position. Try to keep 1–2 cells open at all times. A full set of free cells means your supermove capacity drops to 1 card.

Empty Columns Are More Valuable Than Free Cells

An empty column doubles your supermove capacity. Clearing a column (or nearly clearing it) is often more valuable than any individual move.

Release Buried Aces and 2s First

Low cards of each suit must go to foundations before higher cards can. Find buried Aces and 2s early and work to unblock them, they bottleneck everything.

Think About Color Balance

FreeCell alternates colors when building sequences. If you have too many reds needing black cards to go under, look for black cards buried in columns and plan to free them.

6 Famous Unwinnable Deals

Of the 32,000 deals in Microsoft FreeCell, only a handful are proven unwinnable with optimal play. The most famous is Deal #11982, the first deal proven unwinnable. It was included intentionally (or accidentally, depending on the source) and has been verified by computer analysis.

If you're playing a numbered deal online and can't find a solution after many attempts, you might be on one of the rare unwinnable deals, not just stuck.