FreeCell: Rules, How to Play, and Tips for Winning

FreeCell is a solitaire card game in which all 52 cards are dealt face-up into eight tableau columns, and you win by building all four suits from Ace to King on four foundations. It is a game of planning rather than luck: because every card is visible from the start, most deals can be solved with the right sequence of moves. You play with four free cells (temporary storage for single cards) and four foundations, and you move cards by building tableau columns downward in alternating colors. This guide covers the setup, the legal moves, the "super move" rule for moving sequences, and the strategy that separates winning games from stuck ones.

Objective and Setup

The goal is to move all 52 cards onto the four foundations, one per suit, in ascending order from Ace to King.

At the start of a deal:

• Tableau: 8 columns containing all 52 cards, dealt face-up. The first four columns hold 7 cards each, and the last four hold 6 cards each.
• Free cells: 4 empty cells, each able to hold exactly one card.
• Foundations: 4 empty piles, one for each suit.

Because nothing is hidden, you can see the entire position before making a move. That is the defining feature of FreeCell compared with games like Klondike, where face-down cards add uncertainty.

Legal Moves

There are three kinds of moves in FreeCell:

1. Tableau to tableau: Move a card onto a tableau card that is one rank higher and the opposite color. For example, a black 6 goes on a red 7. Aces are the lowest rank, so nothing can be placed on an Ace.
2. To a free cell: Move any single exposed card (the bottom card of a column) into an empty free cell. Each cell holds one card.
3. To a foundation: Move an Ace to an empty foundation, then build upward by suit (Ace, 2, 3, … King). Only the next card in sequence for that suit can go on a foundation.

A card is available to move only when nothing is stacked on top of it. Empty columns can accept any card or sequence.

Super Moves: Moving More Than One Card

You can move a sequence of cards together if the sequence is already built correctly (descending, alternating colors). The number of cards you can move at once depends on how much empty space you have:

Maximum movable sequence = (1 + number of empty free cells) × 2^(number of empty columns)

The rule works because each empty free cell and each empty column acts as a staging area. With one empty column, you effectively double your capacity. This is why keeping columns empty is so valuable in the mid-game.

Winning Strategy

FreeCell rewards planning ahead. A few principles consistently improve results:

Clear the Aces first

Aces are the only cards that can start a foundation, so getting them out early unlocks the rest of the build. If an Ace is buried, treat freeing it as a priority.

Keep free cells open

Every card you park in a free cell is a card you cannot move freely. Use free cells as a last resort, not as routine storage. A position with all four cells empty is far more flexible than one with three occupied.

Avoid burying low cards

Low cards (2s, 3s, 4s) are needed early on the foundations. If you stack a 2 under a pile of high cards, you may not be able to reach it when you need it. Before covering a low card, check whether you can still get to it.

Build long sequences in the tableau

Long alternating-color runs reduce the number of separate piles you have to manage and make super moves possible. When you have a choice, extend an existing sequence rather than starting a new one.

Plan in reverse

Work backward from the foundations. Ask which card you need next for each suit, then figure out what has to move to expose it. This is more reliable than making the first available move.

Common Mistakes and How to Recover

Filling all four free cells. This is the most common way to get stuck. If every cell is occupied, you can only move single cards and have no flexibility. Recover by finding any card in a free cell that can go onto a tableau pile or a foundation, and move it out immediately.

Moving a card to a foundation too early. Foundations are one-way: once a card is up, it cannot come back down. Occasionally a card is more useful in the tableau as a building target. Before promoting a card, check whether you still need it in play.

Ignoring an empty column. An empty column is the most powerful resource in the game because it doubles your sequence-moving capacity. Avoid filling an empty column with a random card unless it directly advances your plan.

Getting stuck with no legal moves. If no card can move to a tableau, a free cell, or a foundation, the game is lost. This usually happens after several careless free-cell placements. The best recovery is prevention: keep cells open and avoid covering low cards.

How FreeCell Compares to Other Solitaire Games

FreeCell's open information and super-move rule make it more of a puzzle than a game of chance. If you enjoy planning several moves ahead, it rewards that; if you prefer a faster, more random game, Klondike or Spider may suit you better.

SolSuite Solitaire is a collection of more than 800 solitaire games, including FreeCell, Spider, and Klondike, available for Windows. If you want to practice FreeCell alongside other variants in one program, that is one option to consider.