FreeCell Solitaire

FreeCell is a single-player card game, and this page lets you play it free in your browser. All 52 cards are dealt face up into eight columns, and you win by moving every card onto four foundations, one for each suit, building up from Ace to King.

You can play with a mouse, touch screen or keyboard. The page counts your moves, times each game and keeps your best winning time. Your game in progress is saved in your browser after every move, and nothing leaves your device.

Every deal has a number from 1 to 32000, so you can replay a layout you enjoyed or try one you could not finish. Deal 11982 is known to be impossible to win, and the built-in solver reports that it has no solution.

Playing FreeCell on this page

1. Click New game for a random deal, or click Choose deal, type a number from 1 to 32000 in the “Deal number (1–32000)” field, and click Play this deal.
2. Check the layout: 8 columns, 4 free cells and 4 foundations. Columns 1 to 4 start with 7 cards and columns 5 to 8 start with 6.
3. Move a card by dragging it onto a column, a free cell or a foundation. Green outlines show legal drops. You can also tap a card and the page moves it to the best place for it automatically.
4. To move a stack of cards, drag the card you want, or tap it, which selects that card and every card below it in the run.
5. Set Auto-move to On to send safe cards to their foundations after each move.
6. Click Undo to take back your last player move, or Hint to highlight a suggested move for 6 seconds.
7. Use Restart deal to play the same deal again from the start.
8. Watch the stats row: Deal #, Moves, Time, Best and Solvable.

Keyboard players can click the board, then use the arrow keys to move the cursor. Press Enter or Space to pick up and put down a card. Press A to auto-move, C to send a card to a free cell, 1 to 8 to jump to a column, G for Choose deal, U or Ctrl+Z to undo, H for hint, N for a new game and F for fullscreen. You can also add ?deal=N to the page address to open a specific deal.

How to play FreeCell: FreeCell solitaire card game rules

FreeCell is a solitaire card game with no hidden cards: the whole deck is dealt face up. The goal is to move all 52 cards to four foundations.

Columns are built down in alternating colours, so a red card can go on a black card one rank lower, and a black card can go on a red card one rank lower. Any card or valid run can go onto an empty column. The four free cells each hold one card, and a card can only go into a free cell from a column, not from another free cell.

What are the FreeCell rules for moving cards?

A run is a group of cards in one column that count down in alternating colours. Only a run at the bottom of a column can be moved as a group. Moving several cards at once is one move, and one undo takes it back.

The number of cards you can move at once depends on the free cells and empty columns you have. The limit is (empty free cells + 1) × 2 to the power of (empty columns). When the target is an empty column, that column does not count, so the exponent is one less. Some examples the game calculates:

• 4 free cells, no empty column: 5 cards
• 2 free cells and 1 empty column: 6 cards
• 0 free cells and 2 empty columns: 4 cards
• 3 free cells and 2 empty columns, moving into an empty column: 8 cards

If a legal run is longer than the limit, the status line says “You can move at most N cards at once.”

How to win FreeCell

You win when all four foundations reach King. Each foundation takes only its own suit and builds from Ace up to King. On screen they appear in the order spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds.

A card on a foundation is final. The game does not let you move it back into a column. Undo can still take back any move, all the way to the start of the deal.

The “No legal moves left” message appears only when no move exists at all. That means all four free cells are full and no card can go anywhere. Moving the only card of a column into another empty column changes nothing, so it is not counted as a move.

FreeCell tips

Empty columns are valuable because they can hold a long run or a card you need to move out of the way. Avoid filling an empty column with a single card unless it frees something important.

Keep free cells open where you can. Each cell holds only one card, so a full set of cells limits every move that follows. Build up low cards on the foundations early, because a card that is still on a column can block the cards under it.

Before you use the last free cell, check that it leads somewhere: once all four cells are full, only moves between columns and to the foundations are left. When you need to move a long run, count first with the formula above; emptying one more column doubles the number of cards you can move.

Auto-move is useful, but it only sends cards that are safe. A 2♠ goes up only when both A♥ and A♦ are already on their foundations. If you are unsure, use Hint to check the next move.

FreeCell explained: what do deal numbers and the solver mean?

Each deal number from 1 to 32000 always produces the same layout, so you can play the same game again or share a number with someone. Deal 1 starts column 1 with J♦ K♦ 2♠ 4♣ 3♠ 6♦ 6♠, listed from top to bottom, with 6♠ as the playable card.

The page checks each deal with a solver in the background. The Solvable chip shows “yes” only when the solver finds a complete winning route. It shows “no solution found” only when the solver has searched the whole space without moving cards back from the foundations. Otherwise it shows “not found yet.” Deal 1 is solved in 83 single-card steps, and deal 11982 is exhausted after 71,775 positions with no solution. In a test of the first 100 deals, 99 were solved within the 150,000-position limit.

Frequently asked questions

Is FreeCell free, and do I need to sign up?

Yes, the game runs in your browser at no cost. You do not need an account to play, because your game and settings are stored only in your browser.

Can I play FreeCell on a phone?

Yes. You can drag cards with touch, or tap a card to send it to the best place for it. The page works with mouse, touch and keyboard.

Is my game saved if I close the page?

Yes. The game in progress is saved in your browser after every move, including the deal number, your list of moves and the elapsed time. It is restored when you reload the page. If the address has a different ?deal= number, that deal starts instead.

Can I start the same deal again?

Yes. Click Restart deal to play the same deal from the beginning. To play a different deal, click Choose deal and enter a number from 1 to 32000.

What does “Solvable” mean in the stats row?

It shows the solver’s result for the current deal. “Yes” means a complete winning route was found. “Checking…” means the search is still running. “Not found yet” means no route has been found so far. “No solution found” means the search covered the whole space and found none.

Is every FreeCell game winnable?

No, but nearly every deal is. Deal 11982 is the best-known deal that cannot be won, and the solver on this page exhausts its search on it without finding a route.

Why can’t I move a card back from a foundation?

Cards on foundations are final, and the game does not include a move from a foundation back to a column. Undo can take back earlier moves, including ones that put cards on foundations.

Why does the game say I can move only a few cards at once?

The number of cards you can move in one go depends on your free cells and empty columns. The status line shows the limit, for example “You can move at most 5 cards at once.” Free a cell or empty a column to move a longer run.

More games

• Klondike Solitaire: the classic solitaire with hidden cards, a stock and seven columns.
• Spider Solitaire: a two-deck solitaire where you build King-to-Ace runs in one suit.
• Crescent Solitaire: sixteen piles of cards around eight foundations, built up and down in suit.
• TriPeaks Solitaire: clear three peaks of cards one rank higher or lower than the open card.
• Pyramid Solitaire: remove pairs of cards that add up to 13.
• Tower of Hanoi: another planning puzzle where everything is visible and only the order of moves matters.