FreeCell

The rules, in full

A single 52-card pack is dealt face up into eight columns, one card at a time from left to right, so the first four columns hold seven cards and the last four hold six. Nothing is hidden, from the first move to the last.

Above the columns sit four free cells on the left and four foundations on the right. The goal is to build each foundation in one suit, from Ace up to King. When all 52 cards are there, the deal is solved.

• In the columns, a card goes on one that is one rank higher and of the opposite colour: a red 9 on a black 10.
• A free cell holds one card, any card, until it fits on a foundation or a column.
• Any card goes into an empty column, not only a King.
• A card can come back down from a foundation onto a column or into an empty cell.
• Runs move together, within a limit, explained below.

How many cards can move at once

Strictly, FreeCell moves one card at a time, and dragging a run is a shortcut for passing its cards through the free space. With four empty cells you can move five cards; one empty column raises that to ten, two to twenty.

The column you are moving into does not count. With four empty cells and one empty column, a run dropped into that column can still be only five cards long, because it cannot be the destination and the parking space at once. When a drag snaps back, this is usually why. Cards in a free cell always move one at a time.

Scoring

• 10 points for every card placed on a foundation
• 15 points lost for taking a card back off a foundation

The score never drops below zero. Your best score is kept in this browser when you solve a deal.

Strategy that actually helps

Read the whole deal before moving. Every card is visible, so find the Aces and twos first and count what sits on top of each. Digging them out is most of the game.

Spend free cells as if they cost something. Every card parked in a cell shortens the runs you can move, and a cell holding a card with nowhere to go is dead space. That is why a tap sends a card to a foundation first, a column second, and a cell only when nothing else fits.

An empty column is worth more than a cell. It doubles the run you can carry and accepts any card. Clearing a short column early often opens up the rest of the deal.

Do not rush cards up that a column still needs. Aces and twos can go straight up. A higher card may be what a run of the other colour needs to land on, and taking it back costs 15 points.

Undo, hints and finishing

Undo steps back one move at a time, up to 400 steps, so a deal with no hidden cards becomes a puzzle you can explore. The hint button (H on a keyboard) highlights the move the game rates best.

When every column runs downwards in rank, whatever the suits, nothing can block the foundations any more, and the game shows tap to finish. Tap anywhere on the table, or press Enter, and the remaining cards go up to their foundations by themselves, one after another. Any press stops it, and undo takes it back a card at a time.

A little history

FreeCell grew out of older solitaires such as Baker's Game, which builds the columns by suit instead of by colour. Paul Alfille wrote a computer version called FreeCell in 1978, on the PLATO educational system, and Jim Horne later wrote the version Microsoft shipped with Windows. Its numbered deals became famous in their own right: of the first 32,000, deal 11982 is the one known to have no solution. The deals here are shuffled at random, not numbered.

Common questions

Is it free? Yes. It runs in your browser, with no signup and nothing to download.

Does it work on a phone? Yes. Drag a card or a run with a finger, or tap a card to place it. It works in portrait and landscape.

Can every deal be won? Almost every deal can, but not all of them, and the game does not test a deal before giving it to you.

Can I install it? Yes. Bananai can be installed as an app from the browser, and a game you have already opened usually keeps working when the connection drops.