Relaxed FreeCell is FreeCell with six free cells instead of four. That is the whole change, and it is a large one: you get more temporary storage, longer runs can move at once, and bad-looking deals are less likely to collapse early.
The rest of the game keeps the familiar structure. It is a one-player card game with a standard 52-card deck, dealt face up into 8 tableau columns. The goal is to build 4 foundations by suit from Ace up to King. There is no draw pile, no hidden card, and no betting. The scoring is binary in the rules: you either move all 52 cards to the foundations, or you do not.
That makes the freecell relaxed variant a clean way to learn the family. Planning still matters. You still build tableau sequences in descending rank and alternating colour, and you still lose control if you fill every spare space with cards you cannot later use. The extra 2 cells give you more room to make the right plan late rather than demanding it at move 1.
What actually gets easier in Relaxed FreeCell?
The easier part is space. Relaxed FreeCell gives you six free cells, where standard FreeCell gives you four. A free cell is a holding slot for one card. That sounds small until you are trying to move a buried Ace, clear a column, or shift a run that is almost in order.
The rules underneath do not soften. You still play alone with one standard 52-card deck. All cards are face up from the start. Tableau cards are arranged in descending rank and alternating colour, so a black 9 can take a red 8, and a red Queen can take a black Jack. Foundations still build upward by suit from Ace to King. Empty tableau columns can take any card.
The extra free cells change how often you can get from one legal position to another without tearing the board apart. In FreeCell, moving a tidy run often depends on how many spare free cells and empty columns you have. With six cells, longer runs can move at once, so the position feels less brittle. A mistake may still cost you, but it is less often fatal on the spot.
That is why people call it easy FreeCell. The objective is unchanged, and the cards do not move themselves. It is still a planning game. The freecell relaxed variant gives you more working room, so almost every deal comes out if you keep the tableau open and avoid parking key cards behind clutter.
How do you set up the board and move cards?
- Deal the deck face up. Use one standard 52-card deck. Deal all cards into 8 tableau columns. The first 4 columns receive 7 cards each, and the last 4 columns receive 6 cards each. There is no stock pile and no waste pile.
- Place the free cells above the tableau. Relaxed FreeCell has 6 free cells. Each free cell holds exactly one card. A card in a free cell can later move to a legal tableau spot or to a foundation.
- Place the foundations above the tableau. There are 4 foundations, one for each suit. Each foundation starts with the Ace of its suit, then builds upward through 2, 3, and so on to King.
- Move exposed cards only. The movable card in a tableau column is the bottom card of that column. Since all cards are face up, you can see the whole problem from the start, but you cannot take a card from the middle of a column until the cards below it are moved away.
- Build the tableau downward by alternating colour. A red 7 can go on a black 8. A black 5 can go on a red 6. Suits do not matter in the tableau; colour and rank do.
- Use empty columns as work space. An empty tableau column can take any card. In practice, an empty column is more powerful than a single free cell because it can help you shift ordered runs.
- Move a run only when space allows it. Computer versions often move a valid descending, alternating-colour run for you if the available free cells and empty columns make that transfer possible one card at a time. The six cells in Relaxed FreeCell make those automatic run moves happen more often.
- Do not count points. The relaxed freecell rules are about completion, not scoring. A deal is won when all 52 cards reach the foundations.
What does a turn look like from the first deal?
The first deal gives you the whole board at once. There is no card to flip and no pile to draw from. Your first job is to look for Aces and low cards, then work out which tableau columns block them.
A turn is one legal move. You might move a card to a foundation, place a card on another tableau column, drop a card into a free cell, or move a card out of a free cell. If a run is already in descending rank and alternating colour, the game may let you move the run as one action when there is enough spare space to justify it.
- Foundation move: an exposed Ace goes to an empty foundation. Later, the 2 of that suit can go on it, then the 3, up to King.
- Tableau move: an exposed red 6 can move onto an exposed black 7. This may reveal a useful card underneath or open a column.
- Free cell move: an awkward exposed card can sit in one of the 6 free cells while you clear the card below it.
- Empty column move: any exposed card can move into an empty tableau column. This is often the start of a large rearrangement.
Good early turns usually do one of 2 things: release low cards for the foundations, or create an empty column. Poor early turns fill the free cells with high cards that have nowhere useful to go. Six cells forgive some of that. They do not forgive all of it.
How do you know a deal is won or stuck?
A deal is won when all 52 cards are on the 4 foundations. Each foundation must contain one suit in order, Ace at the bottom and King at the top. Once the last King lands, the game is over. There is no separate score needed to decide the result.
A deal is stuck when you cannot find a legal move that improves the position. That is not always the same as having no legal move at all. FreeCell positions often contain busywork moves: shifting a card from a free cell to a tableau spot, then back into a different free cell, while nothing important changes. Those moves keep the board alive on paper but do not release a blocked card or create space.
The useful test is concrete. Can you free an Ace or the next foundation card? Can you empty a tableau column? Can you move a parked free-cell card back onto the tableau? Can you build a descending alternating-colour run that makes another card available? If the answer stays no after checking the visible board, you are functionally stuck.
Relaxed FreeCell reduces that problem because 6 holding spaces leave more routes open. It does not make every position automatic. Fill every free cell with cards that cannot move, bury low cards under mismatched high cards, and the board can still lock up.
Why play this version instead of standard FreeCell?
- It teaches the same habits with less punishment. You learn the real FreeCell structure: foundations by suit, tableau by alternating colour, free cells as temporary storage, and empty columns as the best resource on the board. The extra cells give you time to see why those habits matter.
- It makes long rearrangements practical. Standard FreeCell can hinge on a single spare cell. Relaxed FreeCell gives you 6, so a run that would be awkward or impossible to transfer can often move cleanly. You spend more time solving and less time counting whether the interface will allow the move.
- It is still a proper puzzle. Easy FreeCell does not mean random clicking wins. If you block the foundations, waste empty columns, or fill every free cell too early, the board tightens. The extra space gives you more chances to repair the damage.
- It suits first games in the family. If standard FreeCell feels sharp, this version shows the rhythm without the same early pressure. After a few wins, FreeCell, Baker's Game, Eight Off, and FreeCell Kings Only all make more sense because the underlying ideas are already familiar.
- It respects short sessions. There is no hidden information to wait for and no draw cycle to manage. You can read the deal, make a plan, and know that every card you need is already visible. A lost position feels fair rather than sneaky.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, because two extra free cells give you more temporary parking. Standard FreeCell gives you 4 free cells; Relaxed FreeCell gives you 6. That sounds small, but it changes how often you can move a blocked card, shift a longer run, or recover from a messy opening without having to unwind half the board.
6 free cells sit above the tableau. You still build foundations by suit from ace to king, and you still build tableau runs down in alternating colours. The difference is the amount of breathing room. With 6 spaces instead of 4, you can hold more loose cards while you expose aces, twos, and buried kings.
The common misconception is that extra cells mean safe storage. The correction is that a full row of free cells still strangles the game. Each occupied cell reduces the length of run you can move, and it cuts off escape routes. Use the sixth cell to solve a problem, not to postpone every awkward card.
A black 9 may be sitting on a red 10, with a red 8 and black 7 ready underneath it. In standard FreeCell, moving that little chain might need too many empty spaces. In Relaxed FreeCell, the extra cells often let the whole run shift cleanly, so you can uncover the card below without breaking the position apart.
It depends on how many escape squares remain. If you have several empty free cells and an empty column, you can make bold clearing moves. If all 6 free cells are full, even an easy-looking board can jam. Relaxed FreeCell forgives more mistakes than FreeCell, but it still punishes moves that leave every card trapped.
Compared with Eight Off, Relaxed FreeCell still feels like FreeCell because tableau building uses alternating colours. Eight Off builds down by suit and has its own rhythm. Relaxed FreeCell keeps the familiar FreeCell shape, then softens it with 6 free cells. If FreeCell feels a touch tight, this is the nearer step.
The short rule is that you can move a correctly ordered alternating-colour sequence if you have enough empty free cells and columns to carry it. The exception is that the interface may move only what is legally transferable from the current position. Extra free cells increase that limit; they do not remove it.
Most people do wrong by treating free cells as a bin. They lift any annoying card, then lift another, and suddenly the board has no working space. A better habit is to ask what the parked card will do next. If it does not reveal a useful card or join a foundation soon, leave it alone.
An empty column is a vacant tableau lane where any available card or legal sequence can be placed. It is more powerful than a free cell because it can hold a run, not just one card. Keeping one column open often matters more than keeping one extra free cell open, especially when you are moving kings and long builds.
Look for aces and twos first, then uncover the card sitting on top of the most useful buried low card. Move a single blocker only when it opens something concrete. Keep at least 2 free cells empty if you can. If a column is close to clearing, work towards that before tidying pretty but harmless runs.
Nobody knows precisely what share of all possible shuffled deals are winnable; the best available figure for this version is the rule change itself: 6 free cells, which is 2 more than FreeCell. In play, that makes unwinnable or badly jammed deals much rarer. It is fair to call it highly forgiving, not fair to claim every deal is won.
FreeCell reached a mass audience through Microsoft Windows in the 1990s. That matters because many players learnt the 4-free-cell version first, then judged every variant against it. Relaxed FreeCell keeps the same core pattern but changes the pressure point. The familiar puzzle remains; the shortage of temporary space is eased.
The cost of getting it wrong is usually small, but not zero. Sending low cards to the foundations is normally safe, especially aces and twos. Later, an over-eager foundation move can remove a card you needed as a stepping stone in the tableau. If a card is still useful for building down, pause before clearing it away.
Final thoughts
If you are new to this branch of solitaire, do not treat the 6 free cells as storage cupboards. Treat them as breathing room. Put a card there because it helps you reach another card, not because you are unsure where else it belongs. The difference shows up fast.
A useful first aim is to make one empty tableau column. A useful second aim is to keep it empty until it earns its keep. Empty columns let you rebuild the board in ways single free cells cannot. The relaxed rules give you more holding slots, but the empty column is still the lever that moves the heavy stuff.
Also, do not rush every card to the foundations just because it can go. Low cards are usually safe. Higher cards can sometimes be needed in the tableau as landing places. If moving a card up removes the only place for a useful sequence, wait. The foundations win the game, but the tableau does the work.
Use the extra cells to ask better questions. Which card is trapped? Which column can be emptied? Which free-cell card has a real way back onto the tableau? Answer those before you start tidying.
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