How to win at FreeCell: a strategy that works deal after deal
7 min read ·
FreeCell is the solitaire where nothing is hidden. All 52 cards are face up from the first move, so there's no luck in the cards you'll find, only in the choices you make. Almost every deal can be won, and on Puzzimo every deal is checked by a solver before you see it.
That makes FreeCell a puzzle of planning. This guide shows the habits that turn a stuck table into a win: reading the deal, guarding your free cells, and using empty columns to move long runs at once. The diagrams come from a real Puzzimo deal and the moves that win it.
The rules in brief
- All 52 cards are dealt face up into eight columns.
- Four free cells each hold any single card for a while.
- Four foundations are built up by suit, from Ace to King. Move every card there to win.
- In the columns, cards go down in alternating colours: a red 7 on a black 8, a black 6 on that red 7.
- Any card, or a valid run, can go into an empty column.
Officially you move one card at a time, but a run of cards can move together when there's room to shuffle them through free cells and empty columns. Puzzimo does that shuffling for you in one move.
Read the deal before you move
Because every card is visible, the first minute is the most valuable one. Before touching anything, find the aces and twos and count how many cards sit on top of each. Those low cards are what everything else waits for.
Start with the columns that release low cards for the fewest moves, and plan where each card you lift off will go. A good opening frees an ace or two without putting anything in a free cell at all.
Treat free cells as a loan
Free cells are the most tempting tool in the game and the easiest way to lose. Every card you park there has to come out again, and while it sits there it blocks the cell for everything else.
- Before putting a card in a free cell, know how it will get out: onto which card, or up to which foundation.
- Try to keep at least two free cells empty for as long as you can.
- When all four are full, you can only move one card at a time and the game usually locks up.
Empty columns: your most powerful move
An empty column is worth far more than a free cell. A free cell holds one card; an empty column holds a whole run, and it doubles how many cards you can move at once. The number of cards you can move together is:
(empty free cells + 1) × 2 for each empty column
So with four empty free cells you can move 5 cards, and with one empty column as well, 10. A column you're moving into doesn't count, because the run is going there.
That's why emptying a short column early is often the best move in the deal. If you try to move a run that's too long, Puzzimo shows the current limit, so you know how much room you still need to make.
Build long, clean runs
- Keep runs in order. A column that reads K, Q, J, 10 in alternating colours costs nothing: it can move whole when you have the room.
- Don't bury low cards. Placing a run on top of a 2 or a 3 you'll need soon just creates more digging later.
- Fill an empty column wisely. Put a King there only when it brings a useful run along. A single low card in an empty column wastes your best space.
- Work towards the foundations evenly. Building one suit far ahead of the others gains little; the cards you need are usually the low ones of the other suits.
Moving cards to the foundations
On Puzzimo, cards that are safe to put up go to the foundations by themselves: a card moves up once both foundations of the opposite colour already hold the rank just below it, so you never lose a card you might still need to build on. Aces and twos always go up.
You can always move other cards up yourself. Do it when it frees a column or a free cell, and hold back when a low red card is still needed as a place to put a black card from a column.
When you're stuck
- Look for any move that empties a column, even a long way round.
- Check whether a long run can move in two steps: part of it now, the rest once another column is empty.
- Count the cards above each remaining low card again; the cheapest one is usually the next target.
- Undo back to the last choice that used a free cell, and try the other way.
Undo on Puzzimo draws on your shared undo balance (three free a day, with more in the shop), so it pays to plan a few moves ahead instead of trying things out.
Practise
Every Puzzimo FreeCell deal is free and checked to be winnable, so when a game goes wrong, the way out was always there. Tap a card to send it to the best place automatically, or drag it where you want, and try the daily deal to compare your time with players around the world.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best first move in FreeCell?
There isn't one fixed move; it depends on the deal. Look for the ace or two that's closest to the bottom of its column and free it without using a free cell, or with as few as possible.
Should I use free cells early?
Sparingly. Parking a card is fine when you know where it will go next, but each full cell halves the length of run you can move, and four full cells usually end the game.
Why is an empty column better than a free cell?
A free cell holds one card. An empty column holds any number of cards in a run and doubles how many cards you can move together, so it's worth more than all four free cells in most positions.