FreeCell: almost every deal can be won
FreeCell deals every card face up, so nearly every game is winnable. Here is how to count your moves.
In FreeCell all 52 cards are dealt face up into eight columns. Nothing is hidden, so the game rewards planning more than luck. Of the 32,000 numbered deals in the original Microsoft version, only one, deal 11982, has no solution.
The goal is to move every card to the four foundations, by suit from ace to king. On the board you build down in alternating colors, and four free cells each hold one card.
Count before you move
You may move only one card at a time, but free cells and empty columns let you shift a whole run in steps. Each empty column doubles the length you can move:
| Free cells | No empty column | 1 empty column | 2 empty columns |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| 3 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| 4 | 5 | 10 | 20 |
Moving a run into an empty column uses that column up, so the number you can move there is half the table’s.
Five habits
- Keep free cells empty. Each card you park lowers the numbers above. Park a card only when it unlocks something right away.
- Value an empty column above a free cell. It doubles your long moves, and it can hold a whole run.
- Send aces and twos home early. Low cards buried deep are what usually loses a game.
- Dig for the next card the foundations need. Find the lowest missing card and count the moves it takes to free it.
- Plan long moves backwards. Before you move a long run, check where each card will land.