Freecell is one of the great modern classic solitaire card games. One of the reasons it is so popular, is that unlike most solitaire card games, almost every deal is solvable. The game can be played with a standard 52 card pack, or right here on this website.
In FreeCell all 52 cards are dealt into 8 columns in the Tableau at the beginning of play. In a standard game of FreeCell all cards are turned face up at the very beginning (although there are variants such as hardcell where this is not the case). 7 cards are dealt into the first 4 columns, and 6 cards are dealt into the last 4 columns.
Only the lowest card in each column may be moved in freecell. You may move this card to any other column if you can use the card to build that column down alternating color. You may also move it to any open freecell, or to the foundations.
In freecell the foundations begin the game empty. The first card that goes into an empty foundation must be an ace. Once an ace has been placed into a foundation, all other cards placed into that foundation must follow suit. The goal of the game is to build up all 4 columns by suit from Ace to King. You win the game when all 52 cards have been placed into the foundations.
A standard game of freecell, has 4 'freecells' where the player may at any time move a top card from one of the columns. The player must use these freecells strategically to free up cards so that they can be moved into the foundation. Be careful not to fill up the freecells too soon. You only have four of them, and it is usually best to have a plan to move those cards back to the columns before you place them in an empty freecell.
