FreeCell Solitaire: a strategy guide
FreeCell is one of the most popular solitaire games, made famous by Microsoft, which has included it in Windows for years. Because you can see all the cards from the start, luck plays no part, which makes FreeCell one of the few solitaire games decided entirely by skill.
It is a hard game, but of the 32,000 deals in Microsoft’s version, every one except deal 11982 can be solved.
Strategy summary
- Before moving anything, study the layout and find problem spots, such as Aces and other low cards buried deep in a column. Plan how to free them early. Deals with low cards near the bottom of columns are easier than deals with them buried.
- Keep as many free cells open as you can. Empty cells let you move longer sequences, and with only one or two left it gets very hard to progress.
- Clear tableau columns when possible. An empty column is worth more than an empty free cell, because it doubles the length of the sequence you can move.
- Fill an empty column with a whole descending sequence of alternating colors. If a column holds only a full packed sequence, you can forget about it for the rest of the game, since it blocks nothing.
- Build packed sequences in the tableau rather than hogging the free cells.
Using free cells wisely
Treat free cells as temporary storage, holding a card for only a short time while you move a longer sequence. For example, take a column (from deal 14396) with these cards, from top to bottom: 5 of Hearts, Ace of Spades, Ace of Hearts, 4 of Clubs. It is fine to put the 4 of Clubs in a free cell, because you can then send both Aces to the foundation and move the 4 of Clubs back onto the 5 of Hearts. The free cell was only used for a moment.
Safe moves
Some moves can never trap you later. Aces (and twos, when they can be played) can go up at any time, since no other card depends on them. Any other card can safely go to the foundation once the cards one rank lower, in the opposite color, are already there. For example, the 5 of Diamonds is safe once both black 4s are on the foundation. Good FreeCell games make these moves for you, as FreeCell HD does, so you can focus on the moves that matter.
The need to empty columns
Your first goal is to empty a column, because the size of the sequence you can move depends on your empty free cells and empty columns. The formula is:
(empty free cells + 1) × 2empty columns
| Empty free cells | Empty columns | Cards you can move |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 2 | 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 2 | 16 |
Empty columns are especially valuable. With two columns free, particularly with two or more free cells too, you can move very long sequences and the game is usually easy to finish.
How to empty columns
Start with columns that have no Kings, because a King has nowhere to go at first. Don’t move cards just because you can. Have a small plan and only make moves that help empty the column you are aiming for.
Another popular approach is to go straight for the Aces, then the 2s, and so on. It is simpler and works for easy deals, but it won’t help with hard ones such as deal 1941.
Most important of all, keep your free cells empty. If you can do that and empty a couple of columns as well, the game becomes very easy to finish.
Enjoy playing FreeCell!