FreeCell Game #1 Solution: A 46-Move Walkthrough, Step by Step

FreeCell game #1 can be won in 46 moves, and you never need more than two of the four free cells to do it. Free the black Aces in two moves, empty column 8, build one long run down from the K♦ in column 1, then dig out the A♥, the A♦ and the 2♦ in turn. After that the Kings step aside, and the last four moves send the final 31 cards home on their own.

Below are the layout, the whole line split into six short phases, and what each phase is for. Every move is a single tap in Poozee's FreeCell, and we replayed the line move by move with the game's own rules engine, so every step is legal and every card lands where the tables say.

The game #1 layout

To deal it on Poozee, open FreeCell, click the Game # button, enter 1 and press Deal. Columns are numbered 1 to 8 from left to right. Row 1 is the top of each column (dealt first, buried deepest), and the last card in each column is the one you can move first.

This is the same layout as game #1 in Microsoft FreeCell, because Poozee uses the same shuffle for its numbered deals.

The Aces are not buried deep. The A♣ has 2 cards on top of it, the A♠ and A♥ have 3 each, and the A♦ has 4: 12 in all. By the same count, the impossible game #11982 has 22.

The real trouble is the Kings. All four sit near the top of their columns, right on cards you need: the K♦ on the J♦ in column 1, the K♥ on the 7♣ in column 7, and the K♣ and K♠ together on the 2♦ in column 2. A King can only move to a free cell or an empty column, so the whole line is built around making room for them at the end.

How to follow the moves

• Every move is one tap. Tap (or click) the first card a row names, and the game sends it exactly where the row says. You can also drag it, or move the keyboard focus to it and press Enter.
• A row like 9♦-6♠ (column 3, 4 cards) moves a whole run in one go, from the 9♦ down to the 6♠. Tap the 9♦ to move it.
• "Then home" lists the cards the game sends to the foundations on its own after that move.
• How moves are counted: exactly like the Moves counter in Poozee's FreeCell. Moving one card or a whole run is one move, and the cards the game sends home by itself don't count. If you follow the line, the counter reads 46 when you win.
• Free cells are interchangeable, so "a free cell" means any empty one. A tap uses the leftmost.

The winning line

Phase 1: Free the black Aces (moves 1‑2)

The 3♦ and 2♣ are the only cards on the A♣, and the A♠ is right behind it. Put both in free cells and three cards go home: the A♣, then the 2♣ out of its cell, then the A♠. This is the same opening our FreeCell strategy guide walks through. You end it with just one cell in use, holding the 3♦.

Phase 2: Empty column 8 (moves 3‑12)

Column 8 is the column to empty first because every one of its six cards has somewhere to go. The 10♣ takes a free cell, the 3♣ goes home now that the clubs are up to the 2, and the other four land on other columns: the 7♦ on the 8♣, the 7♠ on the 8♦, the 3♥ on the 4♠ and the 5♥ on the 6♣.

Two of those landing spots are covered at first: in column 3 the 8♦ is under the 2♥, and the 4♠ is under both. So the 6♠ and 6♦ from column 1 ride along on the 7♦ and 7♠, which uncovers the 3♠, and the 2♥ moves onto it. Then the 8♦ takes its new run onto the 9♣ and the 4♠ is free. No new cell is needed after the 10♣.

Phase 3: Build down from the K♦ and free the A♥ (moves 13‑22)

The A♥ in column 7 is under the 4♦, the J♥ and the 8♣ run you just built. The empty column takes that run for a while (move 13), the J♥ goes onto the Q♣, and the 3♠ with the 2♥ goes onto the 4♦. That uncovers the 4♣, which you send home, and the 2♠ follows on its own.

Column 1 is now down to the J♦ and the K♦, so the K♦ becomes the base of a long run: first the Q♣ and J♥, then the 10♠ from column 3 (the 4♠ and 3♥ move onto the 5♥ to uncover it), then the 9♦ with the parked 8♣ run. After move 21 column 1 holds 8 cards in order from the K♦ to the 6♠, and column 8 is empty again. Move 22 puts the 4♦ run in it, and the A♥, 2♥ and 3♥ go home.

Phase 4: Free the A♦ and empty column 5 (moves 23‑31)

The last Ace is in column 5, under the J♠, the 4♥, the 8♥ and a run that starts with the 6♣. The run goes onto the 7♥, the 3♠ goes home by hand, the 8♥ goes onto the 9♠ (which sends the 4♥ home), and the J♠ takes a free cell, so the A♦ goes home. To make room for the J♠, the 3♦ first comes out of the cell it has held since move 1.

With the A♦ gone, the 5♦ is the only card left in column 5. Two hearts go home by hand, then the 5♦ carries a short run onto the 6♠ at the end of the long run in column 1, and column 5 is empty.

Phase 5: Dig out the 2♦ (moves 32‑42)

All four Aces are home, but the diamonds stop at the A♦ because the 2♦ is the first card of column 2, under both black Kings and seven more cards. This phase moves them off one at a time. The Q♠ goes onto the K♥ and the 10♥ to the empty column, so the J♠ can leave its cell for the Q♥. Then the 9♣ run moves onto the 10♥, the 7♥ and 6♣ hop onto the 8♠ and all three move into the empty column 6, the 10♦ goes onto the J♠, and the 5♣ (with the 4♦ from column 8) goes onto the 6♦.

That leaves the two Kings. The K♠ takes the empty column 8, the K♣ takes a free cell, and the 2♦ is uncovered. Seven cards go home at once.

Phase 6: Move the Kings and finish (moves 43‑46)

Three cards still block the rest: the Q♦ on the 5♠, the K♥ on the 7♣ and the K♦ on the J♦. The Q♥ run goes onto the K♠, the Q♦ moves to the empty column 2 to free the 5♠, and then the K♥ and the K♦, each with the Queen on it, step into empty columns. That uncovers the 7♣ and the J♦, and the game sends every remaining card home.

What game #1 teaches for other deals

• Two free cells were enough. The line never has more than two cells full, even for a moment, so two always stay open for emergencies. The 10♣ sits in a cell from move 3 until it goes home on move 45, and that never mattered, because the free space that was left did the work. A card parked for good is a fair price when the rest of your plan doesn't need that cell.
• Empty the column whose cards all have homes. Column 8 had six cards, and each had an obvious destination. It was empty after move 12, before any other column, and that one empty column made the next phase possible.
• Use an empty column as a waiting room. The 8♣ run moved into column 8 on move 13 and left again on move 20. That freed the J♥ underneath it, and the run came back out onto the 9♦ once there was a place for it.
• Grow one long run on a King. By move 31 column 1 holds 11 cards in order from the K♦ down to the 3♦. A run like that takes cards out of other columns without using any free space.
• Supermoves do the heavy lifting. 20 of the 46 moves carry more than one card, up to 4 at a time. Each one is only allowed because enough cells or an empty column were free at that moment, which is one more reason to keep them open. How to play FreeCell explains how many cards you can move at once.
• Send cards home yourself when the game holds them back. Poozee only moves a card home on its own when no card still in play could need it as a landing spot. Five times in this line (the 3♣, 4♣, 3♠, 5♥ and 6♥) you send one home by tapping it, and none of them was needed again.
• Plan for the Kings early. Four of the last six moves move a King out of the way, and each one needed an empty column or a free cell. If Kings sit on cards you need, count on making that room near the end.

For comparison, the Hint button's solver finds its own win of game #1 in 75 moves. It is built to find a win quickly from any position, not the shortest one, so a hand-picked line like this one can be much shorter.

Keep playing

Deal game #1 in FreeCell and try the line, or play it your own way first and come back to compare. For the habits behind it, read the FreeCell strategy guide. And for the one classic deal no line can win, see why game #11982 is impossible.