Card Game 101 #15: FreeCell

FreeCell is one of the most popular solitaire card games in the world. It is easy to learn, but hard to master. Get all the cards to the foundation piles to win the game! Read on to learn the basics of the card game FreeCell.

✔ A standard 52-card deck

✔ 1 player

To set up the game, deal out eight piles of six cards each, all face up, for a total of 48 cards. Then, deal one more card face up to each of the four leftmost piles. The entire deck should have been dealt out at this point. Finally, leave out some space at the top for the free cells and foundations.

Note: The foundations are referred to as the "home cells" in some sources.

The objective of FreeCell is to move all cards onto foundations. There are four foundations and four free cells. Each foundation starts with an ace of any suit and is built up to the king of that suit.

During gameplay, you move cards around the tableau so that they can be transferred sequentially to the foundations. This can be done in various ways:

✔ A card may be moved to one of the free cells at any time, as long as it is open (i.e. no cards are on top of it) and you have an empty free cell;

✔ An open card may also be moved onto another card if it is one rank lower and a different color than the card it is placed onto (for instance, a red 5 can be placed on top of a black 6);

✔ A card inside a free cell may be moved back to one of the tableau piles as long as the requirement above is satisfied;

✔ You may also move a sequence of cards (called a "run") as if it was one card, provided that all cards in the sequence are in descending order and in alternating color, and you have enough free space available. The number of empty free cells required to move a run of cards is one fewer than the number of cards in the run. For example, if you have three empty free cells, you are permitted to move runs with up to four cards.

If an ace becomes open, it should go directly to one of the foundation piles. Then, cards of the same suit may be placed onto that foundation pile in ascending order.

If you are able to move all cards to the foundations, the game is won.

If you get stuck with no more moves to make, the game is lost.

✔ An empty column may be filled with any card.

✔ Only one card can be moved to a free cell. Meaning, the maximum number of cards that the free cells can hold is four.

✔ A card in a free cell, if eligible, may be moved directly to its foundation.

✔ Once a card is placed onto its foundation, it cannot be moved back onto the tableau. That is to say, "worrying back" is not allowed in FreeCell.

✔ Try to free up the aces as soon as possible. If an ace is buried underneath a king, you should work on creating an empty column as soon as posisble.

✔ Try to keep as many free cells empty as possible.

✔ Keep in mind that FreeCell is hard. Do not be discouraged if you lose several games in a row. Instead, keep practicing and you'll find yourself enjoying it more and more.

The next blog in this series will be about the card game Canasta. Expect it to come within a week.

Thanks for reading!