Play FreeCell Solitaire Online

Overview

Invented in the 1980's, FreeCell is a much easier version of traditional solitaire where players must move all cards into four foundation piles, arranged into suits from Ace to King.

Multiplayer: All players (up to 12) are given the same tableau, and the winner is whoever finishes the game in the fewest moves.

Summary

• Sequences alternate colors
• The max movable sequence length is 1 + empty free cells
• Any card can be placed in an empty tableau slot

The Deck and the Deal

FreeCell uses a standard deck of 52 playing cards. The cards are dealt face up into 8 tableau (also known as cascades, these are columns of overlapping cards, with the bottom card available for play)

The table also features four slots for Foundation Piles in the top right corner. Four Foundation piles are marked with the four suit symbols and four are blank slots for the free cells in the top left corner. The blank cells are slots into which a single card can be put on hold in order to be played back onto the table later.

How to Play

The exposed bottom card of each tableau can be moved, either into a free cell or onto an exposed card of value one higher and of the opposite color.

A sequence, a group of cards arranged in descending numerical order and of alternating colors, can also be moved together if the length of the sequence is no more than 1 + the number of empty free cells. For example, if all four free cells are empty, you can move a sequence of five cards, running from a Ten to a Six, onto an exposed Jack. The sequence is moved as if it is its highest value card.

Initially, Aces can be moved into the Foundation Piles. Thereafter, cards of the matching suit can be placed onto the Foundation Pile in ascending sequence. There is a foundation pile slot for each suit. Once a card has been played into a foundation pile, it cannot be removed.

Any card can be placed in an empty tableau slot.

The Undo button in the bottom left corner will undo the previous move and can be used repeatedly to undo a whole sequence of moves.

Winning

The game ends when either all the cards have been moved into the foundation piles in order, or the player can find no way to proceed. The game is scored based on how many moves the player took to solve it.

Solitaire Basics

As the name implies, Solitaire games are typically games that one can play alone, however at CardzMania we also allow solitaire games to be played in parallel with multiple players. Solitaire begins by building a grid of cards called a Tableau. The Tableau, or Cascade, is a set of 7 piles of overlapping cards. The first pile has 1 card, the second pile has 2 cards, and so on. Only the bottom card in each pile is facing upward. The remaining deck forms the discard and draw piles. The goal of solitaire games is to move cards from the tableau, discard, and draw piles into four suited piles (called the foundations) in ascending order (Ace to King).

Foundation Piles

The Foundations are four piles (one for each suit) above the Tableau. Cards in a Foundation Pile must be in ascending order (starting with an Ace and ending with a King) and all be in the same suit. At the start of the game, the Foundations are empty.

Tableau

The Tableau, or Cascade, is a set of 7 piles of overlapping cards that the player creates at the start of a game. The first pile has 1 card, the second pile has 2 cards, and so on. Only the bottom card in each pile is facing upward. Cards can be transferred from the discard pile onto the Tableau if the faced up cards follow a descending order (King to Ace) and an alternate color pattern (red and black). When all of the faced up cards are transferred to another pile, the bottom card is flipped over. If a Tableau pile runs out, a new one can be started with a King.

Sequence

A group of cards arranged in numerical order. In Solitaire games, cards are typically played onto the next highest cards, such as Eights onto Nines, or Jacks onto Queens. Sequences of cards can often be moved together as if they were the highest value card in the sequence, but the rules governing this vary between games.

Cells

Slots into which a single card can be played and later played back onto the table. The number of cells in use can impact on other facets of the game.

Draw Pile

The Draw Pile, or Stock, is the remaining deck after the player creates the Tableau. It is set to the side and faces downward.

Discard Pile

Card Game Basics

A deck of cards consists of 52 cards, with 4 distinctive subgroups. Each of these subgroups is recognised by a symbol and are referred to as suits. They consist of Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds. Each suit contains 13 cards which, generally, are considered in this order, Ace (A), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jacks (J), Queen (Q) and King (K). Some games include the two Jokers found in a standard deck but most games don't.

Feedback

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