FreeCell Glossary
Every game in the FreeCell family leans on the same handful of words: tableau, foundation, free cell, supermove. Once you know them, the rules for any variant read like plain English. This glossary defines the terms you will meet across the whole family, from ordinary FreeCell to the strict suit-builders and the two-deck marathon.
If you are brand new, skim this page before the rules. You do not need to memorize anything - just get a feel for the vocabulary, then read the full FreeCell rules or the FAQ and the words will already make sense. Each term below has its own link, so other pages can point straight to a definition.
💡 Tip: Learn the four core terms first - tableau, foundation, free cell, and empty column. Almost every rule you read is built from those four ideas.
Core layout terms
Deck
A full set of 52 playing cards in four suits. Most FreeCell games use one deck. Double FreeCell uses two decks, 104 cards in all. The deck is shuffled and dealt face up at the start of every game.
Suit
One of the four card families: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. Hearts and diamonds are red; clubs and spades are black. Ordinary FreeCell cares only about color on the tableau, while suit-builders care about the exact suit.
Rank
A card's number or value, from Ace (low) through 2 to 10, then Jack, Queen, and King (high). On the tableau you build down by rank; on the foundations you build up by rank, one suit at a time.
Court cards
The picture cards - Jack, Queen, and King, sometimes called face cards. They rank just above the 10. The King is the highest card, which is why several games let only a King move into an empty column.
Tableau
The main playing area where the whole deck is dealt into columns. Every card is face up, so all of your moves happen in the open. Each game sets its own build rule for how tableau cards may be stacked.
Column (cascade)
A single vertical stack within the tableau, also called a cascade. FreeCell deals eight columns; Seahaven Towers and Double FreeCell use ten. Cards overlap so you can read them, and only the bottom card is fully in play.
Foundation
The goal piles you are trying to fill, one per suit, built up from Ace to King. When every foundation is complete, you win. Single-deck games have four foundations; the two-deck game has eight.
Free cell
A single-card parking spot above the board and the signature of the whole family. Each cell holds one card of any kind as temporary storage. Standard FreeCell gives you four empty cells; filling all of them at once usually locks the game.
Reserve (cells that start full)
A row of cells that begin the game already holding cards. In ForeCell all four cells start full, and in Eight Off six of the eight cells are filled at the deal. Freeing those spots early is half the battle.
Empty column
A tableau column with no cards left in it. Empty columns are powerful work space, and they multiply how many cards you can move at once. In FreeCell any card may fill one; in Eight Off, Seahaven and ForeCell only a King may.
Cell capacity (movable run)
How many cards you can shift as a group. The count is (free cells + 1), doubled for each empty column. With two open cells and one empty column you can relay six cards at once. See how many cards you can move for a full breakdown.
Card movement terms
Deal
The act of laying out cards at the start of a game, and also the specific shuffled arrangement you are given. "This deal is tough" means the cards fell into a hard-to-solve pattern, even though every card is visible.
Build (build down / build up)
To stack cards in order. Build down means placing a lower card on a higher one (a 6 on a 7) in the tableau. Build up means the reverse, on the foundations, from Ace toward King.
Sequence (run)
A group of cards in consecutive rank order, such as 9-8-7. Also called a run. A run that follows the build rule can travel together as a supermove, as long as you have the free cells and columns to power it.
Supermove
A single action that moves a whole ordered run at once, made possible by your empty free cells and columns. The game shifts the cards one at a time behind the scenes, but you drag the run as a unit. See cell capacity for the formula that sets how big it can be.
Alternating colors
A build rule where each tableau card must be the opposite color of the one below it - red on black, black on red. Ordinary FreeCell, ForeCell, Relaxed FreeCell and Double FreeCell all build down in alternating colors.
Same-suit build
A stricter rule where tableau cards must be the same suit, not just the same color. Baker's Game, Eight Off and Seahaven Towers all build by suit, which removes many landing spots and makes them harder.
Kings-only rule
In Eight Off, Seahaven Towers and ForeCell, only a King may move into an empty column. This makes empty columns valuable but restricted, so you plan which King to place before you clear a space. Standard FreeCell has no such limit - any card fits.
Ace (foundation base)
The Ace starts each foundation, since it is the lowest card. You send the Aces up first, then build 2, 3, 4 and so on toward the King. Freeing the Aces and twos early is usually the key to a smooth game.
Drag-and-drop
Moving a card by holding and dragging it with a mouse or finger to its destination. The classic way to play FreeCell, and how a whole run travels when you drag its top card.
Tap-to-move
A faster input style where you tap or click a card and the game sends it to the best legal spot automatically. Great on phones, where dragging a long run across the board can be fiddly.
Playing and winning terms
Auto-finish (auto-complete)
A convenience feature that plays out a won game for you once every remaining card can reach the foundations. It saves the tedious clicking at the end of a solved deal, so you can start a fresh one sooner.
Undo
To take back your last move. Because FreeCell is a puzzle of open information, casual players use undo freely to explore a line. Timed and competitive play usually discourages it, since it removes all risk from a solvable deal.
Hint
A helper that suggests a legal move when you are stuck. Handy for learning, though the hinted move is not always the best one for solving the whole deal - FreeCell rewards looking several moves ahead.
Winnable (solvable) deal
A deal that can be won with perfect play. Nearly every standard FreeCell deal is winnable, while strict suit-builders and low-cell games are solvable less often. See is every FreeCell game winnable for the numbers.
Dead deal
A board where no winning line remains, usually because every free cell is full and no card can move. When a deal is dead, the smart move is to undo back to the mistake or start fresh, rather than fight a lost position.
Seed
The number that fixes a shuffle. Deal the same seed and you get the exact same cards every time, which is how a daily challenge hands every player an identical board and how a numbered deal always looks the same.
Daily deal
A single shared deal that everyone plays on the same day, generated from a fixed seed. Try today's Daily Challenge to compare your time and moves with other players on the exact same cards.
Shuffle
To randomize the deck order before dealing. A digital shuffle is driven by a seed number, which is what lets a daily deal hand the same shuffle to every player around the world.
Variant-specific terms
Tower (Seahaven Towers)
Seahaven's name for its columns. The game deals ten towers and gives you only two free cells, so relaying suited runs between towers is the heart of the puzzle. Play Seahaven Towers to see it.
Eight cells (Eight Off)
The generous reserve in Eight Off, which starts with eight cells, six of them filled. Even though you build by suit, those extra parking spots keep the game surprisingly forgiving.
Double deck (Double FreeCell)
The two-deck setup used by Double FreeCell: 104 cards, ten columns, six free cells and eight foundations to fill. A single game can run twenty minutes and rewards long-range planning.
Low-cell play (Challenge FreeCell)
A version that strips you down to one or two free cells instead of four. With so little room, empty columns become your only lifeline. See Challenge FreeCell for the toughest test in the family.
That is the core vocabulary of FreeCell. Keep this glossary open in a tab the first few times you try a new variant, and the terms will stick fast. Ready to put them to use? Jump into a fresh game of FreeCell, or browse the whole lineup on the all games page.