Complete FreeCell Rules
FreeCell uses one standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Every card is dealt face up into eight tableau columns. Four columns contain seven cards and four contain six. Four free cells and four foundation piles sit above the tableau.
Legal moves
- Tableau: place a card on the next higher rank of the opposite color.
- Free cells: each empty cell can temporarily hold exactly one card.
- Empty columns: any single card or movable sequence may fill an empty column.
- Foundations: build each suit upward from Ace through King.
Moving a sequence of cards
A sequence must descend by rank and alternate red and black. With no empty columns, each open free cell lets you move one additional card. Every usable empty tableau column doubles that capacity.
Useful formula: movable cards = (empty free cells + 1) × 2empty columns. Do not count an empty destination column as temporary space.
Winning and blocked deals
You win after moving all 52 cards to the foundations. A deal is blocked when no legal move remains. Keeping free cells open and creating an empty column early makes that far less likely.
Rules in this online game
Tap a card for an automatic legal move or drag it to the destination yourself. Illegal moves are rejected, Undo restores the previous position, and solved endgames fly automatically to the foundations.
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