Protect the space needed for your next transfer.
In this site’s FreeCell, all 52 cards start face-up across eight columns. Four single-card cells and empty tableau columns provide temporary space. The key question is whether a move frees a useful card without consuming the space required to move the next group. Related open-tableau games may change or remove the cells entirely.
Last updated: September 2026
Find the card that actually unblocks progress
Four columns start with seven cards and four with six. Tableau cards build down by alternating color; foundations build up by suit from Ace. Locate the next needed foundation cards and trace which top cards cover them. A move that reveals an Ace can help, but only if its temporary parking cards have a route back out.
Emptying a column can make a large transfer possible. Filling a cell with a card that has no immediate destination can make the same transfer impossible. Compare the position after each planned move, not just the card exposed by the first move.
Count move capacity correctly
This implementation permits an ordered alternating-color group move up to (empty cells + 1) × 2usable empty columns cards. If the destination is itself an empty column, it is not counted among the usable empty columns for that move. The source group must still form a legal descending sequence.
Three cells are occupied, leaving one free cell. One tableau column is empty. A move to a nonempty destination can carry up to four cards: (1 + 1) × 2. A move into that only empty column can carry up to two: (1 + 1) × 1, because the destination cannot also serve as an intermediate holding column. A five-card run needs more working space in either case.
The count is a limit, not a reason to move the longest possible group. Check which cells and columns remain open after the move.
Foundations release cards but can remove a base
Moving a card to a foundation can free the card beneath it or an entire column. It also removes a potential tableau landing place. Before moving a middle rank upward, check whether an opposite-color card one rank lower still needs to land there. Compare that cost with the access created by the foundation move.
Which rules transfer to nearby games?
This family groups several open or mostly open tableau games, but their movement systems differ. Use the space-and-access question broadly, then check each variant’s legal moves.
- Penguinhas seven cells, same-suit building, and a variable foundation base. FreeCell’s alternating-color transfer calculation does not describe it.
- Seahaven Towers has two cells, same-suit building, and King-only empty columns.
- Baker’s Dozen has no free cells. Its single-card movement, thirteen columns, and inability to refill an empty column need different instruction despite the open deal.
- King Albertuses a reserve and single-card moves rather than FreeCell’s four cells.