A common progression for Solitaire enthusiasts is to delve into the world of FreeCell online. Part of the reason this solitaire game is so popular is its elevated ratio of wins compared to its classic counterpart. That, and also because it’s just different enough to engage players looking to learn different styles of Solitaire.
FreeCell Online Objectives
As is the case with other variants of Solitaire, the objective is to end a successful round, having separated and stacked all 4 suits from ace to king.
Setup and Arrangement of the FreeCell Game
One standard 52-card deck is dealt face up across eight columns, six rows down. The remaining cards are placed across the bottom of the first four columns. One benefit of playing FreeCell online is that you don’t have to worry about setting it up, as it’s done for you. Also, its ability to randomly generate the cards cancels out shabby shuffling.
Classic Solitaire has two major components: the tableau and the foundation. However, FreeCell Has three: Free Cells, Tableau, and the Foundation. That extra component (among other changes) is what separates these two renditions of this popular strategy game.
Free Cells
Free cells are where you can place cards to get them out of the way of playable cards. There are four empty free cells available at the onset of each round.
Foundation
The foundation is where you stack the cards while you play. As four suits are at play, four spaces are available in the foundation, which must be stacked from aces to kings.
Tableau
The tableau is the general playing area, which is 8 columns across and 7 rows total down (though the last row is only half populated). Every card in the deck falls into this area to populate the board.
How to Play FreeCell Online
Several gaming platforms carry this game, so we’ll be talking about the rendition found here at the A Clockwork Brain website. This card game relies heavily on strategy rather than luck (though a small element of luck is involved).
Gameplay- Getting Started
The game focuses on getting all the cards from the tableau into the foundation, separated by suit, working from aces, followed by all corresponding cards as they open up. That said, the earlier you can get your aces in the foundation, the easier it will be to start picking away at the columns. The fewer cards you have to throw into the free cell area to free up the aces, the better.
Card Movement Basics
- At the beginning of a round, cards can only be moved at the bottom of each column in the tableau, as they are completely uncovered. They can be placed in the foundation, moved into the free cell area, or shifted from one column to another to create a stack.
- Stacks can only be created by descending from higher cards to low and staggard by suit colors. For example, a stack could be a red king followed by a black queen, then a red jack, then a black 10, etc. In most rounds of FreeCell (particularly from mid-game onward), stack management becomes an enormous part of the game.
How to Use the Free Cells
The free cells need to be used with purpose or as sparingly as possible, as there are only four to work with. Ideally, it’s a good idea to think a move or two ahead regarding a card you want to move to the free cell area. The faster you can repurpose cards in the free cells, the better.
The danger of not knowing how you intend to get the cards out of the free cell area could cost you the game if you’re not careful, and this is for two reasons. First, it’s easy to work your way out of moves with all of the free cells full. Second, the more cards you have populating the free cells, the more restricted your movements become.
You can move up to five cards at once with all the free cells empty. You’d want to do that to shift a stack of five sorted cards onto its preceding match or to a cleared column to unlock the cards above it. However, for every populated free cell, you lose one fewer card you can move in a stack. With one card in the free cells, you’d only be able to relocate a stack of four; two cards in the free cells, and you’ll only be able to move three, and so on. With all the free cells populated, you wind up only being able to move one card at a time.
Using the Undo Feature
The undo feature is great to utilize if you’ve made an unwise move or perhaps made a bad, unintended mouse click. However, use this option sparingly, as only three undo actions are available per round.