A Winning Strategy for the Game of Freecell Solitaire

FreeCell Solitaire is an extremely addictive solitaire card game invented by Paul Alfille. It is fun and very skill-dependent. Nearly every game of FreeCell Solitaire can be won with perfect play. Only several FreeCell deals are known to be unsolvable. This makes FreeCell card game much more interesting and popular than solitaire variations like Klondike, where luck is a large factor in the game. With FreeCell, winning depends mostly on skill.

You have a better chance of winning if you plan your strategy carefully. Below you will find several simple rules that can help you to win FreeCell Solitaire on more regular basis.

1. Examine the tableau carefully before making any moves. It is very important to plan several moves ahead. The obvious moves are not always the best.

2. Make it a priority to free up all the Aces, especially if they are deeply buried behind the higher cards. Move them to the home cells as early as possible.

3. Try to keep as many free cells empty as possible. Be cautious! Once all free cells are filled, you have almost no space to maneuver. And your ability to maneuver is the key to this game. Make sure you have no alternative before placing any cards in the free cells.

4. Try to create an empty tableau pile as soon as possible. Empty tableau piles are more important than free cells. Each empty tableau can be used to store an entire sequence instead of a single card. And it doubles the length of an ordered sequence of cards that can be moved from one tableau to another. (If the long sequence move involves both empty tableaus and free cells, it is often called supermove.)

5. If it is possible, fill an empty tableau space with a long descending sequence that begins with a King.

6. Do not to move cards to the home cells too quickly. You may need these cards later to maneuver lower cards of other suits.

Some FreeCell Solitaire deals are solvable very quickly, while others take more time to solve. Replaying the same shuffles in a number of different ways will allow completing the most difficult ones. The more you play the more games you are able to complete. Continue to practice using the strategy above and soon you will find yourself achieving better results and enhancing your enjoyment of playing FreeCell Solitaire.

Boris Sandberg is a developer of the BVS Solitaire Collection, a collection of about 400 different solitaire card games, including FreeCell Solitaire.