FreeCell

What you need & setup

1. Shuffle a standard 52-card deck (no jokers).
2. Deal all 52 cards face up into eight tableau columns: the first four columns get 7 cards each, the last four get 6.
3. Set aside space for four free cells — empty slots that each hold exactly one card.
4. Set aside space for four foundations, one per suit, which start empty.
5. There is no stock or waste pile — every card is visible from the first move.

Turn sequence

1. Scan the whole layout first; with all cards face up, you can plan several moves ahead.
2. Move the exposed bottom card of any column onto another column's exposed card if it is one rank lower and the opposite color (the 8♦ goes on the 9♠ or 9♣).
3. Park a blocking card in any empty free cell — but remember each cell holds only one card.
4. Bring free-cell cards back down onto the tableau, or up to a foundation, whenever they fit.
5. Play aces to the foundations as they come free, then build each suit upward: A, 2, 3 ... K.
6. Use empty columns like extra-powerful free cells — any card or movable run can go there.
7. Continue until all 52 cards are on the foundations or no useful moves remain.

The Open Layout

FreeCell deals the entire deck face up into eight columns, so nothing is hidden. The challenge is purely about ordering your moves, not luck of the flip.

Only the bottom (fully exposed) card of each column is directly movable, but you can see everything above it, which lets you plan complete escape routes for buried cards.

The Four Free Cells

The four free cells are single-card parking spaces. Any exposed card may be placed in an empty cell, and any cell card may come back down whenever a legal spot exists.

Cells are your working room. With all four full, you can only make direct column-to-column moves — which is usually the beginning of the end.

Good FreeCell play treats empty cells as precious: use them briefly and empty them quickly.

Building on the Tableau

Within the columns, cards stack downward in alternating colors, just like Klondike: the red 5♥ can sit on the black 6♣, which can sit on the red 7♦.

Strictly speaking you move one card at a time, using free cells and empty columns as stepping stones. Software lets you drag a whole ordered run at once, but only when enough free cells and empty columns exist to do it card by card.

The number of cards you can move as a group equals (empty free cells + 1), doubled for each empty column you can route through.

Foundations

Each foundation belongs to one suit and builds upward from the ace: A♠, 2♠, 3♠, and so on to the K♠.

Send cards up when it is safe, but not blindly — a low card in play may still be needed as a landing spot for the opposite color.

You win when all four foundations are complete, ace through king.

Empty Columns and Winning

When a column is fully cleared, any card — not just a king — may be moved into the space. This makes empty columns even more valuable than free cells.

The game is won when all 52 cards reach the foundations. It is lost when no legal move improves your position — typically when the cells are clogged.

Nearly every FreeCell deal is winnable with correct play, which is why losses feel earned rather than unlucky.

Scoring & how the game ends

• Traditional play has no point score: a deal is simply won or lost.
• Most software tracks games won, win percentage, and current winning streak.
• Some versions count moves or time so you can chase efficient wins.

Winning: Move all 52 cards to the four foundations, each suit built in order from ace to king.

Common variations

These are genuine regional and house-rule differences — none of them is “the one true way” to play. Agree with your table before starting.

• Baker's Game

  An older sibling with identical layout, but tableau building is by suit rather than alternating colors — noticeably harder to untangle.

  Common: Known among solitaire enthusiasts; predates FreeCell in print.

• Eight Off

  A related open solitaire with eight free cells and same-suit building; generally traced as an ancestor of FreeCell.

  Common: Solitaire collections and books.

• Two-cell and three-cell FreeCell

  The same game with fewer free cells, a common way to sharply raise the difficulty for experienced players.

  Common: Software difficulty settings.

• Double FreeCell

  Played with two decks, ten columns, and foundations that wrap from king back to ace, for a much longer session.

  Common: Included in many solitaire apps.

A little history

FreeCell is generally traced to earlier open solitaires such as Eight Off and Baker's Game, with the alternating-color form popularized by computer implementations.

Its bundling with Windows in the 1990s is credited by most accounts with making it a worldwide favorite.