How to Play FreeCell Solitaire

Playing cards setup fo FreeCell solitaire on teal felt

Here's an illustrated guide to playing FreeCell Solitaire

What is the goal of FreeCell?

In the realm of solitaire games, FreeCell stands out for its strategic complexity making it one of the most difficult variant. This game challenges you to arrange all the cards into foundation piles, one for each suit: Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, and Clubs similar to Klondike. The foundations must be assembled in sequence from Aces to Kings, requiring thoughtful planning and precise moves. Unique to FreeCell however, is its layout, featuring a tableau divided into columns and four 'free cells' - spaces where individual cards can be temporarily stored. The interplay between these free cells and the tableau is central to mastering FreeCell, as it demands a blend of tactical foresight and careful maneuvering of cards.

How to Play FreeCell

To excel in FreeCell Solitaire, it's essential to grasp the game's setup and familiarize yourself with its unique terms. FreeCell uses a standard deck of 52 cards, and understanding the game's layout and terminology is key to mastering its strategy. Here are the major components of FreeCell you should know:

Tableau:

The tableau in FreeCell consists of eight columns where the cards are initially dealt. Unlike Klondike, all cards in the tableau are face-up, allowing full visibility of the game state.
Your task is to strategically maneuver these cards within the tableau, arranging them in descending order while alternating colors.

Foundations:

Located at the top left of the game area, there are four foundation piles. The goal here is to build up each suit in ascending order, starting from Aces and ending with Kings.
The foundations are key to winning the game, as completing all four suits from Ace to King clears the tableau.

Free Cells:

Unique to FreeCell are the four 'free cells' at the top right of the game area. These cells can temporarily hold any single card.
Effectively using these free cells is crucial for maneuvering cards and accessing the cards needed to build sequences in the tableau and foundations.

See the following illustration for the game's 3 main areas.

Terminology for FreeCell solitaire like foundation, free cells and tableau

Setting up the tableau is the initial and crucial step in FreeCell Solitaire. Unlike Klondike, all cards in FreeCell are dealt face-up, and there are no stock or waste piles. Here's a step-by-step guide to preparing your game:

Creating the Tableau:

Begin by dealing the entire deck into eight columns to form the tableau.
Start on the left side of your playing area. Deal the first card face-up into the first column.
Continue dealing cards face-up, moving left to right, until each column has cards.
The first four columns (from the left) will each have seven cards, while the remaining four columns will have six cards each.

Organizing the Free Cells and Foundations:

Above the tableau, on the right side, designate four spaces as 'free cells.' These will start empty and are used to temporarily hold cards during play.
On the left side above the tableau, mark four spaces as foundation piles. These will also start empty and are where you will build the sequences from Ace to King for each suit.

Final Layout Check:

Ensure that all 52 cards are dealt into the tableau columns, with the first four columns containing seven cards and the last four containing six cards.
Verify that all cards are face-up and the free cells and foundation spaces are correctly positioned and empty.

Here is an illustrated view of what your FreeCell Solitaire setup should look like,

Setup for FreeCell

The main objective in FreeCell is to strategically maneuver cards within the tableau, consisting of eight piles, to the foundation piles. The process of building sequences in the tableau is crucial to successfully clear the game. Here’s how you can do it:

Moving Cards in the Tableau:

Players move cards in the tableau by arranging them in descending order, beginning with the highest card available.
Moves within the tableau must also alternate colors in order to be moved from one column to another. Same colors cannot be moved on top of one another other than the initial layout prior to starting the game.
If you have an empty column any card can be moved to the empty spot regardless of rank.

FreeCell Gameplay: Card Movement

Moving Cards to Foundations:

Move cards to the foundation with each of the piles representing the 4 unique suits.
The foundations are built up by suit in ascending order, starting from Ace all the way up to King.

Free Cells and Moving Sequences:

Use the four free cells wisely as they can hold any single card temporarily. This feature provides strategic leverage for accessing a card underneath it to move cards about the tableau or up to the foundation.
You will only be able to move a card from a free cell back down to the tableau if it is a rank lower and of an alternate color so plan ahead for this as well.
You can also move sequences of cards as a unit from one tableau column to another provided the top card is one rank lower and an alternate color to the card you are moving it on top of.

In FreeCell Solitaire there are limitation to moving sequences which limits your ability to move multiple cards simultaneously. It is directly tied to how many free cells are available. The rule is simple: you can move a sequence of cards equal to the total number of unoccupied free cells plus one additional card. For example:

With all four free cells empty, you have the capacity to move a sequence of five cards.
If three free cells are available, moving a sequence of four cards is possible.
With two free cells open, you can shift a sequence of three cards.
When only one free cell is unoccupied, you're able to move a pair of cards.
If no free cells are available, you're limited to moving just one card at a time.

This mechanic emphasizes the strategic importance of free cells in planning your moves throughout the game.

An important exception to the standard movement rule in FreeCell involves the presence of an open tableau column. When you have both free cells and an empty tableau column, your card-moving capacity effectively doubles. For instance, if there's one free cell available and an empty tableau column, you can move up to four cards together. This calculation is based on doubling the normal movement capacity (in this case, 2 cards for the single free cell, doubled due to the empty column). However, this advantage doesn't apply if you're moving cards directly into the empty column itself, as the doubling effect only works when utilizing both the free cells and the empty tableau spaces for strategic reorganization.

Uncovering Cards:

In FreeCell, all cards in the tableau are face-up from the start, so there’s no process of revealing hidden cards. Instead, the challenge lies in how you arrange and reorganize these visible cards to free up spaces and move the cards around in order to finally move them to the foundation.

As you build sequences and move cards around the tableau while utilizing the free cells, you will create opportunities to transfer cards to the foundations, inching closer to winning the game.

Its important to look at the tableau prior to starting the game to see where the Aces and other lower ranking cards are to try and free them up by getting them into the foundation or moving them to the free cells to open up moves. Lower ranking cards can become blockers.

Tips & Tricks

Evaluate the Board

Its important to try and free up and move Aces into the foundation piles so you have the ability to start building the foundations.

Move Aces Early

Part of the strategy to winning in FreeCell is to plan moves ahead so you can make the right moves that help you inch closer to winning.

Plan Ahead

It might be an easy assumption that you want to move all the cards you can to the foundation as quickly as you can, but sometimes you are going to need those cards to free up other columns and cards. Once a card goes into the foundation it will be harder to move it back.

It is sometimes better to build sequences in the tableau and use free cells only when necessary. Remember this also plays into the number of cards in a sequence that can be moved at a time.

Be Careful When Building the Foundations

When you have an empty column it is sometimes best to use higher ranking cards so you have more options to place cards into that column as you go.

Use Free Cells Only When Needed

If you are playing a digital version of the game undo could be your best friend as you find yourself stuck and realize there was a better move.

Place Higher Ranking Cards in Empty Columns

Don't Be Afraid to Use Undo

While typically associated with digital versions of FreeCell, scoring can add an extra layer of challenge and excitement for those who enjoy tracking their progress or competing against their own high scores.

Here's a breakdown of the standard scoring system:

Cards to the Foundation:
- Each time you successfully move a card to the foundation, you earn 10 points.
Undo:
- Each time you undo a move (non-Foundation): -5 points.
- Undo from the foundation: -15 Points
Time Bonus:
- 1,000,000 divided by time to complete game in seconds.
Moves Bonus:
- Calculation based on your moves, the minimum number of moves, and the average moves required for the game.

This scoring system gives the game a competitive nature and can be used in digital versions for leaderboards, tournaments and achievements.

Scoring

While the just about every game of FreeCell is winnable (except for 1), it doesn;t mean you will always win every game as the moves you make could back you into a corner.

The winning percentage among players is roughly 40%.

Odds of Winning

The inventor of FreeCell solitaire is Paul Alfille, who created the game in 1978 while studying the mathematics behind the Baker's game. He was a medical student at the University of Illinois and used the school's PLATO computer system to program the game, writing it with the TUTOR programming language.

FreeCell was initially based on a game called Eight Off, which in turn was based on a much older solitaire game called Baker's Game. Alfille made an important change to the game by making the card builds in alternating suit colors, thus creating the modern FreeCell game we know today.

The game became popular when Microsoft decided to bundle it as one of the pre-installed games in their Windows operating system in 1995. So, the next time you're enjoying a game of FreeCell on your computer, remember to thank Paul Alfille for his innovative twist on a classic game!

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