Play FreeCell Solitaire Free Online

How to Play FreeCell Solitaire

FreeCell deals the entire 52-card deck face up into eight tableau columns — four columns of seven cards and four of six. Because nothing is hidden, you can see every card from the first second, which is what makes FreeCell a game of logic rather than luck. Above the tableau sit the four free cells on one side and the four foundation piles on the other.

The objective is the same as Klondike: build each foundation up by suit from Ace to King. You get there by building the tableau downward in alternating colors and using the free cells as breathing room. Each free cell parks exactly one card, letting you peel a blocker off a column and set it aside until you have somewhere better to put it. A single card moves on its own; to shift a run in one gesture you need enough empty cells and columns to stage the cards behind the scenes.

An empty column is the strongest resource on the board — even more valuable than a free cell — because any card can move into it. Manage your cells and empty columns well and you can untangle almost any deal. Send the last cards home to the foundations and the hand is won.

Each New Game here is a fresh random shuffle, not one of the numbered deals from the old Windows version. Drag a card or a run to move it, or tap it: a tap sends a card to its foundation when it fits, then tries a tableau column, and as a last resort parks a single card in an open free cell. Cards already on a foundation can be dragged back down if you need them.

The game enforces the standard move limit. A run can move in one drag only if it is no longer than the number of empty free cells plus one, doubled for each empty column. A run headed into an empty column cannot count that column, so its limit is halved. With two free cells open and one empty column, you can shift six cards onto another column but only three into the empty one. There is no points score: the toolbar tracks time and moves. Undo takes back moves one at a time, Hint suggests a move, and once the remaining cards can go straight up in order, the game sends them to the foundations for you.

Strategy Tips for FreeCell

• Plan before you touch a card. Everything is visible, so trace a path to the Aces and low cards before committing to a move.
• Keep free cells empty. Every occupied cell shrinks how many cards you can move at once. Treat them as short-term loans, not storage.
• Race to empty a column. An empty column multiplies your moving power and accepts any card — target the shortest column early.
• Free the Aces and 2s fast. They unlock the foundations; get them out of deep columns before those columns grow.
• Don't flood the foundations. Sometimes a card is more useful bridging two columns than sitting on a foundation — hold it if it keeps a sequence alive.
• Undo and rethink. If you jam all four cells, back up: a small change in move order often unlocks the whole board.

Many lost FreeCell games are decided early. The usual culprits are filling three or four free cells early to reach a single Ace, which leaves no room to move runs later; dropping a card into an empty column when a free cell would have done the same job; and building a long run on top of a low card you still need to dig out. Before you fill a cell or a column, know how you will empty it again.

Because nothing is hidden, a lost game is almost always a planning problem rather than a bad deal. When you jam, undo back to the last point where you had a free cell or an empty column and try a different order. Our FreeCell strategy guide goes deeper on the move limit, opening plans and the mistakes that lose winnable deals.

The habit that makes FreeCell click — asking what each move buys you before you make it — is the same one that lowers your score in Klondike. Our guide to winning Solitaire in fewer moves covers it with three free interactive practice drills you can play as you read.

Prefer a little more luck and a familiar layout? Try classic Klondike Solitaire, or unwind with a round of TriPeaks Solitaire — both free, right in your browser.