Freecell Solitaire Deluxe

1. Look over the eight face-up columns and find the aces and low cards you need first.
2. Move the bottom card of a column onto a card one rank higher of the opposite color, such as a red 6 onto a black 7.
3. Park a card in one of the four free cells when you need to uncover something beneath it, and bring it back out as soon as you can.
4. Send aces to the foundations, then build each suit upward from ace to king.
5. Before each move, check which card it uncovers and whether it uses up a free cell or empty column you will need later.
6. Win by moving all 52 cards to the foundations.

Freecell Solitaire Deluxe is a free online version of FreeCell, the solitaire game that rewards planning instead of luck. The whole deck is dealt face up into eight columns, so every card is visible from the first move. Above the columns sit four free cells, each able to hold one card, and four foundations, one for each suit. Your goal is to move all 52 cards to the foundations, building each suit from ace up to king. In the columns you build downward in alternating colors, for example a black 7 on a red 8, and the free cells give you room to dig out the card you need.

FreeCell was created by Paul Alfille in 1978 on the PLATO computer system and became famous in the 1990s, when Microsoft included it with Windows. Its big appeal is that almost every deal can be won: of the 32,000 numbered deals in the original Windows version, only one, deal 11982, has no solution. A lost game is therefore nearly always a puzzle that a better plan can crack, which is why many players replay the same deal until they beat it.

A few habits make a big difference. Free the aces and twos early, because low cards buried deep in a column block everything stacked on top of them. Treat the free cells as short-term parking and try to keep at least one of them empty. An empty column is worth even more than a free cell, since it lets you move a longer run of cards. Before each move, look a few steps ahead and ask what it uncovers. This deluxe edition is laid out for a phone held upright as well as for a computer, so you can play a quick hand anywhere without downloading anything.