FreeCell is the strategic solitaire where skill beats luck. When you play FreeCell in browser here, all 52 cards are dealt face up across eight tableau columns, so nothing is hidden — every move is yours to plan. Four open free cells act as temporary holding spots and four foundations wait to be filled. Unlike classic Klondike, free online FreeCell solitaire reveals the whole board from the start, which is why nearly every deal is winnable if you think a few moves ahead.
Build down the tableau in alternating colors and stack the foundations up by suit from Ace to King. A single card moves at a time, but with empty free cells and empty columns you can shift a whole sequence at once: the supermove limit is (free cells + 1) multiplied by 2 raised to the number of empty columns. Choose Easy for four free cells plus automatic foundation play, Medium for the classic four cells, or Hard for a tense three-cell challenge. No download, no sign-up — just open FreeCell and play.
FreeCell was invented in 1978 by Paul Alfille, then a medical student, who programmed the first computer version for the PLATO educational system after modifying an older suit-building solitaire called Baker's Game — a puzzle Martin Gardner had described in Scientific American a decade earlier. Alfille's key change, building in alternating colors instead of by suit, made vastly more deals solvable and turned a curiosity into a classic.
The game conquered the world when Microsoft bundled it with Windows 95, complete with 32,000 numbered deals. Devoted players organised the Internet FreeCell Project to solve every one of them by hand, and discovered that exactly one — the infamous deal #11982 — is impossible. Modern computer analysis puts the solvable share of random deals above 99.99%, which is why FreeCell fans insist that when you lose, you usually have only yourself to blame.
Move all 52 cards to the four foundations Ace to King by suit.
Click or tap to move cards; use the four free cells as temporary holding spots.
Clear the whole tableau to win; fewer moves is better.
Empty a column early — each empty column and free cell multiplies how many cards you can move at once. Don't bury low cards; keep Aces and twos reachable. Plan several moves ahead before committing your free cells, since filling them all can lock the board.
Is every FreeCell deal winnable?
Very nearly. Of the classic 32,000 Windows deals only #11982 has no solution, and random deals are solvable more than 99.99% of the time.
How many cards can I move at once?
Officially one, but empty cells and columns allow supermoves: (free cells + 1), doubled for every empty column. With four free cells and one empty column that's ten cards.
How is FreeCell different from Klondike?
Every card is dealt face up from the start, so FreeCell is a game of pure planning — there is no hidden information and almost no luck.
More classic games: Klondike, Spider, Pyramid, TriPeaks, Mahjong Solitaire, and all 100 free games.