Playing FreeCell: starting the game
To play FreeCell: starting the game

1	On the Game menu, click New Game.

The FreeCell game area consists of the four home cells, four free cells, and the deck of cards, which is dealt face-up in eight columns at the beginning of the game.

2	To move a card, click the card you want to move, and then click the area you want to move the card to. There are three places you can move cards to in FreeCell:

Move to a free cell: any card from the bottom of a column.

Move to a home cell: any card from a free cell or from the bottom of a column. Moves to a home cell must be made in order of lowest to highest, same suit. Aces can always be moved to an empty home cell.

Move to the bottom of a column: any card from a free cell or from the bottom of another column. Moves to a column must be made in order of highest to lowest, alternating suit colors.


Playing FreeCell: object of the game
To play FreeCell: object of the game

The object of the game is to move all the cards to the home cells, using the free cells as place holders. To win, you make four stacks of cards on the home cells: one for each suit, stacked in order of rank.

It is believed (although not proven) that every game is winnable.

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Playing FreeCell: strategy and shortcuts
To play FreeCell: strategy and tips

 	Before you make your first move, look for trouble spots like aces hidden at the tops of columns, or both red sevens stacked behind three kings.

 	Try to keep your free cells unoccupied as much as possible. Empty columns are also valuable.

To cancel a move, click the Game menu, and then click Undo, or click the card you just moved again.

To reveal a partially hidden card, use the right mouse button to click it.

If you have already put two or more cards in sequence in a column, you can move the entire sequence to a different column if there are enough free cells open. To move several cards at one time, click the bottom card of the sequence you want to move, and then click the column you want to move it to.

To move a card quickly to a free cell, double-click the card.

At the end of each move, FreeCell transfers unneeded cards to the home cells. A card is unneeded if there are no lower rank cards of the opposite color left in the playing area.

When only one legal move remains, FreeCell warns you by flashing the title bar.

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Free Cells
Free cells are the four card locations in the top left corner of the screen. Each cell can hold only one card.


Home Cells
Home cells are the four card locations in the top right corner of the screen. Aces can be moved to home cells immediately, and other cards of the same suit can be moved on top of them in ascending order. You win the game by moving all the cards to the home cells.


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