FreeCell Solitaire

FreeCell rules and strategy

A solitaire game in which all cards are visible from the start: nothing is hidden, and everything depends on thinking it through. This site explains the exact rules, strategy and solved deals, verified card by card. To play: FreeCell Solitaire, on iPhone, iPad and Android.

Read the rulesDownload the app

Available on the App Store and on Google Play.

FreeCell Solitaire on a phone held in landscape orientation: a game in progress on the green playing surface, eight columns of cards on the left, the four cells and four foundations on the right, and time, score, moves and game code at the bottom.

FreeCell at a glance

FreeCell is played alone with a deck of 52 cards, dealt face up into 8 columns. At the top, 4 cells each hold one card aside, and 4 foundations receive the cards of each suit, from ace to king. You win when all 52 cards have been moved to the foundations.

In the columns, you place a card on a card of the opposite color and one rank higher: a black 9 on a red 10. The whole game is about freeing the aces and low cards without tying up the cells. The rules explain each move in detail, and the strategy explains how to approach the game.

A deal from the app

Here is the deal with code FC1-C4-AAAAAKH exactly as the app deals it. Paste this code into the New Game window to play it; its solution in 97 moves is detailed on the Examples page.

Cells (4): empty, empty, empty, empty. Foundations, cards placed: 0 spades, 0 hearts, 0 diamonds, 0 clubs. Column 1: 3 of clubs, 2 of diamonds, queen of spades, ace of hearts, jack of diamonds, 4 of spades, 8 of hearts (top: 8 of hearts); column 2: 5 of clubs, 6 of spades, 10 of diamonds, 6 of diamonds, 5 of diamonds, 9 of clubs, 9 of diamonds (top: 9 of diamonds); column 3: 9 of spades, king of spades, 7 of diamonds, 8 of clubs, ace of clubs, 3 of diamonds, jack of clubs (top: jack of clubs); column 4: 5 of spades, king of clubs, 10 of spades, 3 of hearts, 2 of hearts, 3 of spades, 5 of hearts (top: 5 of hearts); column 5: 10 of clubs, king of diamonds, 9 of hearts, 6 of clubs, king of hearts, 8 of spades (top: 8 of spades); column 6: 4 of clubs, 4 of hearts, queen of diamonds, 4 of diamonds, 8 of diamonds, 7 of spades (top: 7 of spades); column 7: jack of hearts, queen of clubs, jack of spades, 7 of clubs, queen of hearts, ace of diamonds (top: ace of diamonds); column 8: 2 of clubs, 10 of hearts, 6 of hearts, 2 of spades, ace of spades, 7 of hearts (top: 7 of hearts).

Deal FC1-C4-AAAAAKH at the start: columns of 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, 6 cards, with empty cells and foundations.

Where to start?

On phone and tablet

The app is played in landscape orientation. It offers 4, 2 or 1 free cells to adjust the difficulty, a code for each game to replay or share a deal, undo for the last 100 actions, and statistics.

FreeCell Solitaire on a phone in landscape orientation: the start of a game, with eight columns of cards on the left on the green playing surface and cells and foundations still empty on the right.
Phone, in landscape orientation.
FreeCell Solitaire on a tablet in landscape orientation: the same game in progress, with more green playing surface around the columns, cells and foundations.
Tablet, in landscape orientation.