FreeCell is a solitaire computer game developed by Microsoft as a built-in component of various versions of Windows. It is based on the rules of the FreeCell card game. It has been included with every release of Windows since Windows 95, which has greatly contributed to the original game's popularity.

History

FreeCell was first included with Volume 2 of the Microsoft Entertainment Pack and later the Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack. It was subsequently included with Win32s as an application that enabled the testing of the 32-bit thunking layer to ensure that it was installed properly. It remained relatively obscure, however, until it was released as part of Windows 95.

In Windows XP, FreeCell was extended to support a total of 1 million card deals.

Windows Vista included a new version of the game, developed by Oberon Games and featuring a new visual style, along with other built-in card games; it remained largely unchanged in Windows 7.

Windows 8 has another updated version of FreeCell as part of Microsoft Solitaire Collection, available as a free download from the Windows Store. Windows 10 has the Microsoft Solitaire Collection app updated and bundled with the operating system, as does Windows 11.

Gameplay

FreeCell is played with a standard set of 52 cards. The front faces of all cards are visible throughout the game, even those that are behind other cards. As with Microsoft Solitaire, the object of the game is to return all the cards to the four slots, which are specific to each of the four card suits.

There are eight rows of cards, which must be organized to eventually be placed in the four suit-specific spaces. Seven cards are stacked in each of the four rows on the left, while there are six cards in each of the four rows on the right. In addition to these, there are four “free cell” slots; exactly one card of any type can be placed in each of these.

As with Microsoft Solitaire, the cards in the rows must be placed on top one another in order by number (from the furthest behind to frontmost: K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A), and must alternate between black cards and red cards.

Features

FreeCell has an "undo" feature that allows moves to be retracted. Any number of moves can be retracted, back to the last non-retractable move, but each "undo" subtracts one from the score.

The key H (M in earlier versions) will highlight possible moves. It will indicate only the most obvious moves and not the subtle moves needed to win the game. The player can also undo previous moves and try again. Windows keeps track of scores for the player's reference; these may be viewed by going to Game and then Statistics. In Windows 7, these scores appear in the Games Explorer by clicking the game and selecting the Statistics tab in the Preview Pane.

Earlier versions of FreeCell have numerical names that identify each puzzle with a specific configuration of cards. The original version of the game has 32,000 deals; only one of which, “11982”, cannot be solved.