FreeCell is a one-deck solitaire game in which you can see every card before making your first move. You win by moving all 52 cards to four foundations. There is no stock or waste: the puzzle is to uncover useful cards while keeping enough temporary space to rearrange the tableau.
Play FreeCell alongside this guide, then use the FreeCell strategy tips once the moves feel familiar. The rules below describe the game on Solitaire All Day, including its limits on moving runs and its irreversible foundation moves.
Find the three areas of the board
The tableau has eight columns. One standard 52-card deck is dealt face up, one card to each column in turn. Repeating that round-robin deal leaves the first four columns with seven cards each and the last four with six: 7/7/7/7/6/6/6/6. The exposed card is the final, lowest card shown in each column. Cards above it are covered even though you can see their ranks and suits.
The four free cells are temporary holding places at the upper left. Each starts empty and can hold exactly one card. They are useful for getting a blocker out of the way, but an occupied cell is unavailable until you move its card elsewhere.
The four foundations are at the upper right, one for each suit. They also start empty. A suit’s Ace goes first, followed by its Two, Three, and so on through the King. Foundations are your destination for the completed deck, not extra storage spaces for rearranging it.
Build downward in alternating colors
In the tableau, a card can be placed on an exposed card exactly one rank higher and of the opposite color. Hearts and diamonds are red; clubs and spades are black. A red Seven can go on a black Eight. It cannot go on a red Eight, a black Nine, or another Seven.
You can move a single exposed card from one column to another when it fits. You can also move a descending, alternating-color sequence when there is enough temporary capacity. For example, a red Seven, black Six, and red Five form a valid run. Its Seven can land on a black Eight; the Six and Five remain beneath it in the same order.
You do not have to move the whole ordered section of a column. In that example, moving only the black Six and red Five is possible if the Six has a suitable destination and the two-card move fits the capacity limit. A covered card cannot move by itself while leaving the cards beneath it behind.
Use a free cell for one card
Any exposed tableau card can move into an empty free cell. The cell accepts any rank or suit, but never a second card. You cannot place an entire run there, even when it is correctly ordered.
A free-cell card can move onto a legal tableau destination or its next foundation position. For example, a black Six in a cell can go on an exposed red Seven. An Ace can start its foundation. Neither move needs a newly drawn card because FreeCell has no draw pile.
Plan an exit for a card before parking it. A free cell occupied by a King may stay occupied until you clear a tableau column, while a low card might soon leave for a foundation. The rules permit either choice; the strategic cost differs.
Fill an empty column with any card
An empty tableau column accepts any exposed card. It is not Kings-only, which is an important difference from Klondike. A Three, Jack, or Ace can all enter an empty column.
A valid run can also enter an empty column if enough working space remains to move it. The destination itself cannot help with that calculation: it is being used as the landing place. Clearing a column therefore creates a useful resource, but filling it again immediately gives up some of that flexibility.
Build foundations from Ace to King
Only the next card of the same suit can enter a foundation. With Ace and Two of hearts already home, the Three of hearts may follow. The Three of diamonds cannot go there, and the Four of hearts cannot skip the missing Three. The card must be exposed in the tableau or held in a free cell.
On Solitaire All Day, you cannot move a foundation card back to the tableau or a free cell. Undo can restore the previous position, but a foundation is not a temporary holding area during normal play. Consider whether a higher card is still needed as a tableau landing place before sending it home.
Moving sequences
A multiple-card move is a shortcut for a rearrangement that could be carried out with single-card moves. The run must already descend by rank and alternate colors; empty spaces do not make a broken sequence movable.
For a move onto an occupied tableau column, the maximum capacity is:
(empty free cells + 1) × 2^(usable empty tableau columns)
Count only cells that are empty before the move. Count only other tableau columns available as temporary working space. Never count the source column, even if moving its entire run will leave it empty. When the destination is empty, exclude that destination as well. These exclusions are essential to using the formula correctly.
With two empty free cells and no usable empty columns, the capacity is three. A three-card run can move onto a fitting exposed card; a four-card run cannot. You can imagine parking the two lower cards separately, moving the first card to its destination, and rebuilding the run beneath it.
With those same two free cells and one usable empty column, the capacity is six: (2 + 1) × 2^1 = 6. A legal six-card run can move onto a fitting occupied column; a seven-card run cannot. The extra column lets you temporarily rearrange part of the run while moving the rest.
Now suppose that empty column is the destination instead. It is no longer temporary space, so the capacity drops to three: (2 + 1) × 2^0 = 3. The six-card move that worked onto an occupied column does not work into that sole empty column. With no empty free cells and no usable empty columns, the capacity is one: you can still move a single exposed card when it fits.
Win the game
You win only when all 52 cards are in the foundations, with each suit complete through its King. Having tidy tableau runs or empty free cells does not finish the game on its own.
Use drag-and-drop or tap a source and then its destination. A double-click or double-tap sends an exposed card to a foundation when legal. Undo restores your previous position, Restart restores this deal’s exact initial arrangement, and New Game starts another deal. A rejected move leaves the position unchanged.
Common beginner mistakes
- Matching suits in the tableau. Tableau moves alternate colors; matching suits matter on foundations.
- Treating a visible card as exposed. Clear the cards below it before moving it alone.
- Filling every cell without an exit. The remaining cards may have legal destinations but too little space to move their runs.
- Counting the landing column as workspace. An empty destination does not increase the capacity of the move into it.
- Using a foundation as a spare cell. Its next rank is compulsory, and cards cannot be dragged back out.
Try one small rearrangement on the FreeCell board, then compare what it opens with what it blocks. For help choosing between legal moves, continue with FreeCell strategy. Most standard deals can be solved, but Solitaire All Day does not guarantee that every new deal has a winning route.