What is FreeCell Solitaire?

FreeCell was invented in 1978 by Paul Alfille, a medical student who programmed it on the PLATO computer system at the University of Illinois. That version ran on hardware most people have never heard of, used by a few thousand students at most. The game sat in relative obscurity for over a decade until Microsoft included it with Windows 3.1 in 1992. After that, it ended up on hundreds of millions of computers, and most people today trace their first game back to some version of Windows.

What makes FreeCell different from most solitaire games is that all 52 cards are dealt face-up at the start. Nothing is hidden. You can see exactly where every card is before you make your first move. This changes the nature of the game entirely — it's less about luck and more about planning. You either find a path through the puzzle or you don't.

The other thing that makes FreeCell unusual is its win rate. Nearly every deal is solvable. Computer analysis of all 32,000 standard deals (numbered 1 through 32,000 in the Microsoft Windows version) found that only one is genuinely unwinnable: deal #11982. Every other deal can be beaten with correct play. That's a remarkable property for a solitaire game, and it's a big part of why FreeCell appeals to players who find Klondike frustrating — in Klondike, you can play perfectly and still lose because of how the cards were shuffled.

The four free cells in the top-left corner are what give the game its name. They're temporary holding spots, one card each. Used well, they're the engine that makes complex rearrangements possible. Used carelessly — filling all four before you have a plan — and the game locks up fast.

How to play FreeCell

Setup

A standard 52-card deck is dealt face-up across eight tableau columns. Columns 1 through 4 get seven cards each; columns 5 through 8 get six cards each. In the top-left corner are four free cells, each capable of holding one card. In the top-right corner are four foundation piles, one per suit, where you'll eventually move all 52 cards.

The objective

Move all 52 cards to the foundations. Each foundation builds from Ace up to King, one suit per pile. Get all four foundations to King and you win.

Moving cards in the tableau

Cards in the tableau must be placed in descending rank with alternating colors. A black 7 goes on a red 8. A red Queen goes on a black King. You can place any card on an empty column — not just Kings. That's what makes empty columns so useful.

Free cells let you park a single card out of the way while you dig for something underneath it. Move a card to a free cell, rearrange what you need, then move it back. The cost is that the free cell is now occupied — and occupied free cells reduce your ability to move sequences.

The free cell calculation: how many cards you can move at once

Technically, FreeCell rules only allow you to move one card at a time. But if you have open free cells and empty columns, you can simulate moving a sequence by shuffling cards through those empty spaces. The formula is:

Maximum movable cards = (free cells available + 1) × 2^(empty columns)

So with 2 free cells open and 1 empty column, you can move up to (2 + 1) × 2 = 6 cards as a sequence. With 4 free cells and 2 empty columns, that's (4 + 1) × 4 = 20 cards. In practice, on a crowded board you'll often be limited to moving 2 or 3 cards at a time. Keep that ceiling in mind as you plan.

Most FreeCell implementations, including this one, apply this calculation automatically and let you drag sequences directly without manually routing cards through free cells one by one.

Moving cards to foundations

Any card can be moved to its foundation pile when it's the next card in sequence for that suit. If the hearts foundation is empty, only the Ace of Hearts can go there. Once the Ace is placed, the 2 of Hearts can follow, then the 3, and so on up to the King.

Auto-complete kicks in once all remaining cards are safely accessible. When the game detects that every card can be moved to foundations in sequence, it finishes the game automatically so you don't have to click through the last 30 moves.

FreeCell vs Klondike Solitaire

These are the two most-played solitaire games, and they feel completely different despite sharing similar goals.

In Klondike, roughly half the cards start face-down. You don't know what's buried until you uncover it. Skilled players win around 30–40% of games, partly because some deals are unwinnable regardless of strategy — the cards just don't cooperate. There's a real luck element and the tension that comes with it.

FreeCell has essentially no hidden information. Everything is on the table from move one. Win rates for competent players run above 99%. Losses almost always trace back to a specific decision made too early — a free cell misused, a sequence built in the wrong direction, an empty column filled thoughtlessly. When you lose FreeCell, you usually know why, which is genuinely useful for improving.

Which is harder? That depends on what you mean. Klondike is harder to win because the cards don't always give you a path. FreeCell is harder to play well because the board is completely transparent and mistakes are yours to own. Most players find Klondike more immediately accessible, but FreeCell more rewarding once it clicks.

For beginners: start with Klondike. It's more forgiving about strategy because luck carries some games you'd otherwise lose. Once you understand the basics of solitaire, FreeCell is the better game for developing real card-handling skill.

FreeCell strategy: how to win

Experienced FreeCell players think several moves ahead before committing to anything. The game rewards looking at the board systematically rather than just finding the next legal move.

Clear Aces and low cards early

Aces can't go anywhere in the tableau — they have no card to sit on top of. If an Ace is buried under several cards, getting it out is an immediate priority. Same with 2s. The foundations can't progress without low cards, and until foundations start building, you have nowhere to put anything.

Keep at least one or two free cells open

Using all four free cells feels like progress. But a board where all four are occupied and no columns are empty is often just stuck. Each occupied free cell cuts your maximum movable sequence in half — go to zero and you can move exactly one card at a time. Keep free cells as a resource, not a dumping ground.

Plan around the cards that are hardest to reach

Scan the board before your first move. Find the cards you'll need soon — the low cards for foundations, or the high cards blocking sequences you want to build — and figure out what it takes to reach them. Building your strategy around the problem cards is usually more effective than playing opportunistically.

Value empty columns

An empty tableau column is powerful. It doubles your maximum movable sequence. Two empty columns quadruple it. Getting one column empty early is a reasonable short-term goal in most games, and protecting it once empty is often worth passing up other moves.

Think about suit distribution when building sequences

Alternating colors is the rule, but within that constraint you have choices. A red 7 can sit on either a black 8. If one of those black 8s is in a position that's going to cause you headaches later, route the 7 to the other one. These small decisions compound over the course of a game — a sequence built in the slightly better direction might be movable as a unit when you need it; the other direction might trap a card you can't get to.

If you're stuck, look at what's blocking foundations

Most losing positions in FreeCell trace back to a card that's needed on a foundation but buried under several others, with no viable route to dig it out. When you feel stuck, identify the lowest-ranked cards not yet on foundations and trace where they are. The solution — if there is one — usually starts with finding a path to those cards.

Is every FreeCell game winnable?

Almost. The short answer is that 99.999% of randomly dealt FreeCell games are solvable with correct play.

The longer answer: in the early 1990s, computer scientists analyzed all 32,000 numbered deals in the Microsoft Windows FreeCell game. They found exactly one unwinnable deal: #11982. That deal was verified by multiple solvers and is considered definitively unsolvable. Every other numbered deal can be won.

When you extend the analysis beyond those 32,000 to the full space of possible FreeCell deals (there are over 1.75 × 10^64 of them), unwinnable positions exist but are extremely rare. Most estimates put the fraction of unwinnable deals at less than 0.001%. For practical purposes, if you lose a FreeCell game, it was almost certainly your play rather than the deal.

This is the fundamental difference between FreeCell and Klondike. In Klondike, a meaningful percentage of deals — estimates range from 5% to 20% — are unwinnable regardless of skill. When Klondike players lose, some of those losses are genuinely unavoidable. FreeCell players don't have that excuse. Losing a FreeCell game is almost always a mistake that can be identified and learned from, which is either reassuring or slightly uncomfortable depending on how you look at it.

If you're curious about Spider Solitaire, the winnability situation there is very different — 4-suit Spider has a win rate around 10–15% even with strong play.

Why play on Solitaire Mastery?

There are plenty of FreeCell implementations online. Here's what's available here:

• Unlimited undo and redo: Every move is recorded. Take back as many as you want with Ctrl+Z, redo with Ctrl+Shift+Z. If you spot a mistake five moves back, you can go back five moves and try something different.
• Hints that prioritize well: The hint system looks for foundation moves first, then moves that unlock buried low cards, then useful tableau rearrangements. It won't just suggest a legal move — it suggests a good one.
• Auto-complete: When every remaining card can reach a foundation without obstruction, the game finishes itself. No clicking through the last 20 obvious moves.
• Global leaderboard: Resets daily. Scored on time and efficiency. A fast clean solve ranks above a slow one.
• Achievement system: Win streaks, speed targets, completing games without using free cells, and more.
• Auto-save: Close the browser, come back later. Your game is exactly where you left it.
• No account required: No signup, no email, no password. Open the page and play.
• Mobile support: Full touch drag-and-drop on phones and tablets, with cards sized to fit your screen automatically.

Frequently asked questions

What does "FreeCell" mean?

The name refers to the four empty cells in the top-left corner of the board. They're free spaces — not part of any sequence or suit requirement — where you can temporarily park any card. Paul Alfille, who created the game in 1978, named it after those holding spaces. The free cells are what distinguish the game mechanically from other solitaire variants. Without them, most deals would be impossible to solve.

How many cards are in FreeCell?

FreeCell uses a standard 52-card deck — all four suits, Ace through King. All 52 cards are dealt face-up to the eight tableau columns at the start. Nothing goes to a stock pile or a separate reserve. Four of the columns get seven cards; the other four get six.

Can you always win FreeCell?

Nearly always. Computer solvers have confirmed that deal #11982 (from the classic Microsoft Windows numbering) is the only known unwinnable standard FreeCell game. Every other numbered deal in that set is solvable. For randomly generated deals, the fraction that's unwinnable is less than 0.001%. If you lose a game, the overwhelming probability is that it was a solvable position and there was a path you missed. Unlimited undo lets you go back and find it rather than starting over.

How many free cells should you keep open?

As a rough guideline, try to keep at least one free cell available at all times, and ideally two. Each occupied free cell cuts your maximum movable sequence in half. With four free cells occupied and no empty columns, you can only move one card at a time, which is enough to get stuck on almost any non-trivial board. In the early game, it's easy to burn through free cells filling the foundations — which feels productive — only to realize the remaining tableau is completely gridlocked. Use free cells deliberately, not automatically.

Is FreeCell harder than Klondike?

In terms of win rate, FreeCell is easier — almost every deal is solvable if you play well. In terms of mental effort, FreeCell is harder. You have to think more precisely, plan further ahead, and take full responsibility for every decision because nothing is hidden. Klondike has a forgiving quality because luck sometimes bails you out of sloppy play. FreeCell doesn't. Whether that makes it "harder" depends on whether you find strategic planning more demanding than managing uncertainty. Most experienced solitaire players find FreeCell more rewarding once they get used to it.