A short history of FreeCell
FreeCell may be the most famous solitaire game that almost always can be won. Its story runs from a puzzle column in a science magazine to nearly every Windows computer on earth.
Baker's Game
FreeCell grew out of an older game called Baker's Game, in which cards are built down in the same suit. The puzzle writer Martin Gardner described Baker's Game in his column in Scientific American in 1968, naming it after C. L. Baker, who had shown it to him.
A change of color
In 1978, Paul Alfille changed one rule — building down in alternating colors instead of the same suit — and wrote the first computer version on PLATO, an early educational computer system at the University of Illinois. The small change made the game much more winnable and far more popular. He called it FreeCell.
FreeCell comes to Windows
Jim Horne, who had played Alfille's version, later wrote FreeCell for Microsoft. It shipped with Microsoft Entertainment Pack, then became part of Windows itself from Windows 95 onward. Its 32,000 numbered deals meant players could talk about a deal by its number and try the same deal as a friend.
The one deal that can't be won
In the 1990s, volunteers in the Internet FreeCell Project set out to solve all 32,000 Windows deals, sharing results by email. They found that every deal could be won except one: number 11982. It is still the best-known unwinnable deal, and Calm FreeCell skips it so you never get stuck.
Why it lasts
FreeCell hides nothing, so a loss never feels like bad luck — only like a puzzle not yet solved. That fairness is a big reason it remains a favorite with players of all ages.
Calm FreeCell
Calm FreeCell uses the same deal numbers as the classic game, with large cards, no timer, unlimited Undo and a hint whenever you need one. It is free to play in any browser.
Learn the rules in how to play, or read our tips.