How to play FreeCell

FreeCell is a patience game where every card is visible from the start. Almost every deal is winnable — the skill is in finding the order.

Goal

Move all 52 cards to the four foundation piles in the top-right, building each suit from Ace up to King.

The board

• Eight cascades hold the deal. You can build down them in alternating colours.
• Four free cells in the top-left each hold one card as temporary storage.
• Four foundations in the top-right are where you win the game.

Moves

Pick up the bottom card of any cascade, a card in a free cell, or the top of a foundation. Drop it on:

• A cascade where it continues the alternating-colour descending sequence — or any empty cascade.
• An empty free cell.
• The matching foundation, in ascending order.

You can drag a sorted run of cards together if you have enough free cells and empty cascades to "carry" the move — the more empty spaces, the longer the run.

Strategy

The free cells are a precious resource: don't fill all four until you have a plan to empty them, because a board with no free cell and no empty cascade is where most deals get stuck. Empty cascades are even more powerful — try to clear one early, since both an empty cell and an empty column multiply how many cards you can carry in a single move. Keep building toward whatever rank each foundation needs next, and avoid burying the low cards you'll want soonest, especially Aces and twos.

Tips

• Plan a few moves ahead before you touch a card — FreeCell rewards thinking over speed.
• Get the Aces and twos out to the foundations early so they stop clogging the cascades.
• Don't rush every card to the foundations; a mid-rank card left in the tableau is often a useful landing spot.
• Use undo freely to test a line, and if a deal truly locks up, start a fresh one.