FreeCell

How to play

FreeCell uses one 52-card deck, dealt face up into eight columns. Above them are four free cells, which hold one card each, and four foundations, one per suit. The goal is to move all 52 cards to the foundations, from Ace up to King in each suit.

• Columns: a card can go on a card one rank higher of the opposite colour, such as a red 6 on a black 7.
• Free cells: any single card can be parked in an empty free cell.
• Empty columns: any card, or any ordered group, can go into an empty column.
• Moving groups: an ordered group moves together if there is room to move it one card at a time: (free cells + 1) × 2 for each empty column.

Game numbers

Every deal has a number from 1 to 1,000,000. Deals 1 to 32,000 are the same as in classic Windows FreeCell, so “Game #617” here is the same layout. Click the game number to choose a deal, or open zippi.games/freecell?game=617 directly.

Strategy

1. Free the Aces and 2s early. Find the low cards buried in columns and plan how to dig them out.
2. Keep free cells empty. Each one used lowers how many cards you can move as a group.
3. An empty column beats a free cell. It doubles the size of the group you can move.
4. Plan before you park. A card in a free cell needs a way back out.
5. Build long ordered columns. They move as a unit and make room elsewhere.
6. Don’t bury low cards under Kings. A King can only move to an empty column.

Origins

FreeCell grew out of Baker’s Game, a patience that its namesake, Baker, learned from his father, who had it from an Englishman in the 1920s; Martin Gardner described it in Scientific American in June 1968. In 1978 Paul Alfille, a medical student at the University of Illinois, changed one rule (building by alternating colour instead of by suit) and wrote the first computer version for the PLATO educational system.

Jim Horne, who had played it on PLATO, made a colour version for MS-DOS in 1988 and later wrote Microsoft’s version. Numbered deals made it a shared game: in 1994 and 1995 the Internet FreeCell Project split the 32,000 Windows deals among volunteers and found that only #11982 cannot be won.

History

Why it’s fun

• No hidden cards. Everything is on the table, so winning is up to you.
• Almost every deal can be won. A loss means there was a better line, which pulls you into the next game.
• Deal numbers make it social. “Try game #617” is a challenge anyone can take.
• Small space, deep puzzle. Four free cells feel like plenty until they’re gone.

What it trains

FreeCell is planning under tight resources: counting how many moves a group needs, deciding what to park and when, and seeing several steps ahead before committing.

FAQ

Can every FreeCell game be won?

Nearly all. Among the original 32,000 deals, #11982 is the only one known to be unsolvable.

Is there a limit on undo?

Undo goes back to the first move of the current deal. Restart returns there in one step.

What counts as a loss?

Starting a new deal after making moves in the current one ends your win streak.

This version

• Numbered deals: 1 to 32,000 match classic Windows FreeCell; open any deal with ?game=N.
• Tap a card to send it to the best spot, or drag it; safe cards go to the foundations on their own.
• Unlimited undo and Restart; hints for the next useful move.
• Win streak, best time and fewest moves are kept on this device.

Updates

1. September 28, 2026First version on Zippi: classic deal numbers, auto-move, hints and undo.

Page last reviewed September 30, 2026.

Sources

• FreeCell, Wikipedia
• Microsoft FreeCell, Wikipedia