How to Play FreeCell: Rules, Free Cells and Winning Strategy

By Nesim Razon, independent Android developer

FreeCell is the solitaire where nothing is hidden. Every card is face up from the first move, so a win comes from planning, not luck. This guide covers the rules, the move-limit formula, and the habits that separate a quick win from a dead end.

The goal and the layout

Move all 52 cards to four foundation piles, one per suit, building each from Ace up to King. The cards are dealt face up into eight columns. Above the columns sit four free cells, and each cell holds exactly one card.

How cards move

• On the columns you build downward in alternating colors: a red 7 goes on a black 8.
• A free cell holds one card at a time. Use it as a temporary parking space, and a card can come back out onto a column or a foundation whenever it fits.
• A foundation takes the next card of its suit: Ace first, then 2, 3 and so on.
• An empty column can take any card, or any correctly ordered run.
• Cards in a foundation can usually be left alone. Cardles can send cards up automatically when nobody needs them any more, and you can switch that off in Settings if you like to do it yourself.

How many cards can you move at once?

Moving a run of cards is really a series of single moves done for you, using free cells and empty columns as scratch space. The formula is: (free cells + 1) x 2 to the power of the number of empty columns.

With four empty cells and no empty column you can move 5 cards. With two empty cells you can move 3. With one empty cell and one empty column you can move (1 + 1) x 2 = 4. A run of 6 cards needs more room than you probably have, so look at the numbers before you commit to a plan.

That is why parking cards in cells has a real price. Each full cell makes every later run move shorter.

Dig for Aces and low cards first

Look at the deal before you touch anything. Find where the four Aces and the 2s are buried, and count how many cards sit on top of each. Start with the column that frees the most important cards for the least effort.

Low cards matter because they unlock the foundations, and the foundations are what empty the board. A 2 stuck under five cards can freeze a whole suit.

Empty columns are your best resource

• Aim to empty a column early. It doubles your moving power and gives you a place for a long run.
• Do not fill an empty column with a single random card. Use it to move a run, or to dig out something important, and then refill it with purpose.
• Two empty columns are far stronger than one. Try to keep them if you can.
• If you do park a card in an empty column, choose a high card that can start a long run, such as a King or a Queen.

Mistakes that cause dead ends

• Filling all four cells early. With no free cells you can barely move more than one card at a time.
• Burying a low card under a high card of the same suit chain you will need later, like putting a 3 under a 9 you cannot move.
• Building a long run on top of a card that has to go to a foundation soon. You will have to take the whole run apart again.
• Moving before looking. FreeCell rewards thinking five moves ahead, and undo is there to help you test a line, not to replace the plan.

Is every deal winnable?

Almost every classic FreeCell deal can be solved. In Cardles every deal is guaranteed solvable, so if you are stuck, a better line exists. Deals are numbered, so the same number always gives the same layout, which makes it easy to retry a hard one or compare notes with a friend.

If you cannot see the next step, ask for a hint. Hints in Cardles follow a real solution, and undo is free and unlimited. Treat the Klondike guide as the place for the other solitaire basics; here the only thing that matters is thinking ahead.