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Start playing unlimited games of FreeCell Solitaire. No download or registration is needed. Play in full-screen mode or on your phone. You can also compete on our leaderboards by getting the lowest score based on the total number of moves and time.

What is FreeCell Solitaire?

FreeCell is a variation of Solitaire where the goal is to move all 52 face-up cards to the foundation. You do this by freeing up cards in the tableau by sequencing them and using four open cells where any playable card can be placed. Learn more with our instructional video.

For other popular solitaire gamestry Spider Solitaire or classic online Solitaire.

How to Play

The Setup and Play Area

Tableau: This is where all 52 cards are placed face-up in 8 columns. The first 4 columns have 7 cardsand the last 4 columns have 6 cards.

Free cells: These are the four open cells in the top left corner of the game. Any playable card can be moved here to help you open up new cards to play and to sequence cards.

Foundation: These are the four open areas on the top right of the game. In each foundation pileyou want to sequence cards from Ace to King by suit.

How to set up a game of FreeCell Solitaire2021

Available Moves

  1. When you start the gamethe cards that are available to play are the last cards in the tableau. In other wordsyou can move cards that have no cards on top of them. If an Ace is playableyou can move it immediately to the foundation.

  2. In the tableauyou can move a card on top of another playable card as long as it is of the opposite color and of a higher rank. For examplea playable 3 of Hearts can be moved on top of a 4 of Spades that is at the bottom of another tableau column. On the other handif you have 7 Hearts and a 6 of Diamondsyou cannot move the 6 on top of the 7 because they are the same color. Below each black card will need to be a red oneand it needs to be one rank lower. For examplea 5 will go below a 6Queen below Kingand so on.

  3. You can move any playable card to one of the four free cells. Only four cards can be in the free cells at any given time. Even though you can use the free cells as much as you wanttry to keep them available for future cards you may need to move around.

  4. The number of sequenced cards you can move is equivalent to the number of open free cells plus one. For example:
    • If there are four free cells openyou can move five cards.
    • If there are three free cells openyou can move four cards.
    • If there are two free cells openyou can move three cards.
    • If there is one free cell openyou can move two cards.
    • If there are no free cells openyou can move one card.
    • There is one exception to this. If you have an open column in addition to free cellsyou can move double the number of cards you can move normally. For exampleif you have 1 free cell open and one empty tableau columnyou can effectively move 4 cards (2 cards for the 1 free cellmultiplied by two). This applies as long as you are not moving cards into the actual empty columnin which case you are unable to take advantage of the doubling.

  5. During the process of moving cards from the tableau board to the foundationyou may clear out an entire column. In that caseyou can grab any free card and move it to an empty column. It doesn't matter which card it isas long as it is a free one.

  6. Cards can only be moved to the foundation from Ace to Kingand they need to be of the same suit. For exampleif you move the Ace of Diamonds to the foundation pilethe next card you can place on top of it is the 2 of Diamonds.

  7. The advantage of FreeCell is that all cards are uncoveredmeaning that there will be no surprisesand you can strategically plan ahead. There may be a situation where you will be left with no options or possible moves. You can undo moves to try other ways of solving the gameor you can start a new game.

Learn more here on how to play FreeCell.

Strategy

There are a number of strategies that can help you win FreeCell. For examplebecause all the cards are face-upyou should study the tableau and plan ahead. Check out our FreeCell strategy guide to learn more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there different versions of FreeCell?

Yesthere are variations in the number of free cellscolumnsor decks used. Some popular games include Eight OffBaker's Gameand Seahaven Towers. You can try Easy FreeCellwhere the 2s are already placed in the foundation. Check out all our FreeCell games here.

How difficult is FreeCell?

FreeCell is considered easy in difficulty. Of 1,974,525 games played41.86% of them were wonor 826,489. This means the human win rate is much lower than the theoretical one.

Nearly every FreeCell gamehowevercan be won. Only a very few FreeCell games are unwinnable. Using the basic deal numbering system that most FreeCell games usegame #11982 is the first unwinnable game of FreeCell. This makes the theoretical win rate very different than the actual one.

What is the history of FreeCell?

FreeCell is one of the most popular card games. It was first introduced in 1978 by Paul Alfillewho programmed the first computerized version of it as a medical student on a PLATO computer at the University of Illinois. It was later popularized in 1991 when it came preinstalled with every version of Windows.

Even though the game is played with one deck of cardsmathematically speakingthere are 1.75 times 10 to the power of 64 possible games.

What are the minimum moves to beat FreeCell?

Based on our analysis of millions of gamesyou can beat a FreeCell game with a minimum of 52 moves. Not every game can be won like this. It depends on the cards you are dealt. On Solitairedyou can replay the same game to try to solve it in fewer moves. Under new gamesimply click restart gameor click the restart button on the congrats modal.

Is FreeCell good for your brain?

FreeCell has various cognitive benefits. At its coreit’s a problem-solving game where you have to figure out how to get all the cards to the foundation by using the free cells. Trying to solve the game pushes your critical and strategic thinking skillswhere you have to plan and visualize outcomeshelping you stay sharp. In facta study by the Oregon Center for Aging& Technology found that playing FreeCell can help identify individuals with memory problems.

Outside of the direct benefits to your brainFreeCell is often fun for playersreducing stress levels and allowing you to think more clearly.

What are other Solitaire games to try like Spider Solitaire and Pyramid?

If you like FreeCellbe sure to try: Or see our entire list of free games.

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