FreeCell rules: the complete guide

FreeCell at a glance

If you only remember one thing, remember this: an empty column is worth far more than an empty free cell. Most of FreeCell strategy grows out of that single fact.

Setting up the deal

Shuffle a standard deck and deal all 52 cards face up into eight columns, left to right, one card at a time, overlapping each card so you can see every one. The first four columns end up with 7 cards and the last four with 6.

Above the columns you need eight spaces. The four on the left are the free cells, and the four on the right are the foundations. All eight start empty.

That’s the whole setup. There is no stock, no draw pile and nothing face down. Everything you need to know about the deal is in front of you from the first second — which is why FreeCell feels more like a chess puzzle than a game of chance.

Why the deal order doesn’t matter much

In Klondike, luck decides which cards are hidden where. In FreeCell, luck only decides how awkward the starting position is. A deal with all four Aces buried at the top of long columns is harder than one with Aces near the bottom, but both are almost always solvable. That’s why players talk about FreeCell deals by number: deal #1 is the same puzzle for everyone.

How to play, step by step

The bottom card of each column — the one fully visible and not covered by anything — is the only card in that column you can move. (The exception is an ordered run, covered below.)

The legal moves

1. Column to column. Move a card onto another column if it is one rank lower and the opposite color: a black 8 onto a red 9, a red Queen onto a black King.
2. Into a free cell. Move any exposed card into an empty free cell. Each cell holds exactly one card.
3. Out of a free cell. A card in a free cell may move to a column (following the building rule), to an empty column, or to its foundation.
4. Into an empty column. Any card can start an empty column — not just a King. So can an ordered run, within the limits below.
5. To a foundation. Each foundation starts with an Ace and builds up in the same suit: A♣, 2♣, 3♣ and so on to K♣.

You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations. You are stuck when no legal move is left, or — more often — when the only moves left just shuffle the same cards back and forth.

Moving a run of cards (supermoves)

Strictly speaking, FreeCell moves one card at a time. But if you have room, you can always shift a run like 9♥ 8♣ 7♦ one card at a time through empty cells and columns. Computer versions do those steps for you in one go, and players call it a supermove.

The number of cards you can move at once depends on how much empty space you have:

The formula is (empty free cells + 1) × 2 for each empty column. If you are moving the run into an empty column, that column can’t also be used as a stopover, so count one fewer empty column.

Worked example. You want to move the five-card run 9♥ 8♣ 7♦ 6♠ 5♥ onto the 10♠. You have two empty free cells and one empty column, so your limit is (2 + 1) × 2 = 6 cards — enough. Here is what the shortcut is doing for you:

1. Put the 5♥ and 6♠ in the two free cells.
2. Move the 7♦ to the empty column, then bring the 6♠ and 5♥ back down onto it. The cells are empty again.
3. Put the 8♣ in a free cell, move the 9♥ onto the 10♠, and bring the 8♣ down onto the 9♥.
4. Move the 5♥ and 6♠ into the cells, the 7♦ onto the 8♣, then the 6♠ and 5♥ on top.

Thirteen single-card moves, one tap. Now notice what the empty column did: it let you park a three-card run, which doubled your capacity. That’s why an empty column is so valuable.

A worked example: digging out an Ace

Here’s a typical early-game problem and how to think about it.

The position. In column three, the A♠ is buried under two cards: the Q♥, and on top of that the 8♣, which is the exposed card. Column five’s exposed card is the 9♦, and column six’s is the 2♠. All four free cells are empty.

1. 8♣ onto the 9♦. A black 8 on a red 9 — no free cell needed.
2. Q♥ into a free cell. There’s no black King showing, so the Queen has to wait in a cell.
3. A♠ to its foundation. Then the 2♠ from column six follows it.

You used one free cell to free two cards — a good trade. But the Q♥ is now “borrowed time”: until a black King is exposed or a column empties, that cell is gone. Before you park a second card, ask whether you can get the Queen back out first.

The habit that wins FreeCell games is exactly this: before every move into a free cell, know how that card is going to get out again.

FreeCell scoring

FreeCell has no official point system. The classic Windows version kept score the simplest way possible: games played, games won, your win percentage and your current streak. Because almost every deal is winnable, serious players judge themselves by win rate and by how cleanly they win.

Common ways to keep score:

A scoring example. You win deal #617 in 94 moves and 4 minutes 10 seconds without using Undo. Your friend wins the same deal in 120 moves and 3 minutes. Neither of you “beat” the deal by more — you both won — but you found the tidier solution, and your friend found it faster. Because everyone can play the same numbered deal, comparisons like this are fair, which is part of FreeCell’s charm.

BieGames shows the deal number, your moves and your time while you play, and keeps your wins and streaks. Its achievements reward the same things good players care about, such as winning in under 100 moves, winning in under three minutes, or never using more than two free cells.

How winnable is FreeCell?

Very. The original Windows FreeCell numbered its deals from 1 to 32,000, and players in an online project in the 1990s set out to solve them all. Every one fell except deal #11982, which computer solvers have since confirmed has no solution with four free cells. Across much larger sets of deals, unwinnable ones remain extremely rare — only a handful per million.

That doesn’t mean every position is winnable. Fill your free cells carelessly early on and you can turn a solvable deal into a lost one. For more on the odds — and how they compare to Klondike — see Are all Solitaire games winnable?

Rule questions people argue about

Can you move cards back off the foundations? In the classic Windows game and on BieGames, no — once a card goes up, it stays. A few apps allow it, which makes the game slightly easier.

Can you move a whole run into an empty column? Yes, but the limit is halved, because the empty column you’re moving into can’t be used as a stopover. With two free cells and no other empty column, you can move three cards into it, not six.

Can you put any card in an empty column, or only Kings? Any card. That’s one of the big differences from Klondike, and it’s what makes empty columns so powerful.

Do cards have to go to the foundations when they can? No. You may leave a card on the table if it’s still useful to build on. Many programs automatically send up cards that can no longer help — Aces and twos, and higher cards once both opposite-color foundations are close behind. You can usually switch this off.

Is a supermove “really” one move? For counting purposes most programs record it as one. With real cards you have to make each step yourself, and you’re limited by the same formula.

What if no moves are left? The game is lost. Restart the same deal and try a different line — in FreeCell, you can always learn exactly where you went wrong.

Common variations

• Baker’s Game — the older game FreeCell grew out of. Columns build down by suit instead of alternating colors, so far fewer deals can be won.
• Fewer free cells — playing with three, two or even one cell is the classic way to make FreeCell harder. Expert players often use it to keep the game interesting.
• Eight Off — eight free cells, some of which start filled, with building down by suit.
• Seahaven Towers — ten columns of five cards, with the last two cards starting in the free cells. Columns build down by suit, and only Kings may fill an empty column.
• Double FreeCell — two decks, more columns and more cells, for a longer game.

FreeCell itself was first turned into a computer game by Paul Alfille in 1978, and it reached a huge audience when Microsoft included it with Windows in the 1990s.

Playing FreeCell on BieGames

On the FreeCell page you can play any of the classic Microsoft deals from #1 to #32,000 with the Deal # button, or take a random deal (never #11982) or the daily deal. In Settings you can turn Auto-move safe cards to foundations on or off. Undo is unlimited, Restart returns you to the start of the same deal, and Hint looks for a winning line from your current position.

FreeCell terms

• Cascade — another name for a column.
• Free cell — one of four holding spaces, each for a single card.
• Foundation — one of four piles built up by suit from Ace to King.
• Run or sequence — cards in a column going down by one in alternating colors.
• Supermove — moving a run of several cards at once, as a shortcut for single-card moves through empty spaces.
• Safe move — sending a card to a foundation when no card still in play could need it.
• Deal number — the number that identifies a specific shuffle, so anyone can replay it.
• Baker’s Game — FreeCell’s ancestor, built down by suit.

Quick questions about the rules

How many free cells are there in FreeCell? Four. Variants with fewer cells are harder; variants with more are easier.

How many cards can you move at once? (Empty free cells + 1) × 2 for each empty column. With three empty cells and no empty columns, that’s four cards.

Can you put a card on top of a card in a free cell? No. Each free cell holds exactly one card.

What does a FreeCell deal number mean? It’s the seed for one specific shuffle. Deal #1 on any classic-numbered version is the same layout.

Is FreeCell harder than Klondike? It takes more planning, but you lose less often. Klondike hides cards, so luck can beat you; FreeCell shows everything, so nearly every loss is a decision you can fix next time.