This page is how the midgame keeps space, not which lows to scan first. Sequence caps, Auto, Hint, and the opening scan are on FreeCell rules and opening decisions.
Three moves that spend the rest of the deal
A free cell becomes storage
If two or three moves later you still cannot name the next landing, the cell has been full too long. With every cell full and no empty column, you can move only the bottom card.
The empty column is refilled at once
An empty column is workspace, not a dump. Singles can sit elsewhere. Filling it with a card that has no next landing is how later runs suddenly will not drag.
The landing goes home first
Legal is not the same as now. After club 6 leaves, heart 7 often spends a free cell. Auto takes every legal card and will not spare a landing.
Three kinds of room: keep or spend
| Check | Keep | Do not spend |
|---|---|---|
| Free cell | A lift with a named next landing | Storage, or the last cell with no return planned |
| Empty column | A built run, or a cascade you need to take apart | A singleton with nowhere else to go, dropped the moment the column clears |
| Landing | Leave it if another card still needs it | Press Auto, or build a run that eats the only spot |
| A card that can go home | The cascades can still turn after it leaves | Another column loses its only landing, and Undo is the only way back |
The cap on this table is 2 to the power of empty free cells, times empty columns plus one. Skip the destination if it is empty. Each filled cell halves how far a run can drag. The table only asks whether the room is worth spending. Trust whether the current drag completes.
Park in a free cell only briefly
Each of the four cells holds one card. In the midgame the stable rhythm is park, uncover, take it back. A cell is not a ninth cascade.
If the next landing is unclear, wait
Before a cell fills, name the next landing. If you cannot, that cell is not turning the position. It is cutting the sequence cap. One extra parked card looks small and spends the slack the rest of the deal needs.
With every cell full and no empty column, you can move only the bottom card. That is not a loss on the spot. It is why later cascades suddenly will not split.
Returning to a column faces the same build test
Cards in cells do not build in alternating colors. Back on a cascade they must be the opposite color and one rank lower. Storage in the opening blows up the midgame. Storage in the midgame leaves the endgame moving singles.
An empty column is workspace
Its value is not a convenient dump. It takes a built run, or lets you take a cascade apart. Any rank can start it, not only a King, but it still takes one card or one run.
When the table tightens, ask what the column is for
If a long run will not drag, look first at which column is closest to empty. One empty column reopens lines that had nowhere to go. Many midgame wins are not a card. They are a whole cascade of space.
Filling it the moment it appears blocks the table again. Singles can sit in many places. An empty column exists only after you clear one. Ask whether the move spends the column or enlarges it.
Onto an empty column, that column is not a helper
Subtract it from the empty-column count. Two free cells and one empty column: eight cards onto an occupied column, four cards onto that empty column. Do not assume a built run will drag because it looks built.
A landing beats a handy build
If it can build, go home, or move, that is not enough reason to leave. If it is the only landing another column has, sending it spends the rest of the deal.
If the table has fewer routes after the move, it was rarely worth it
Stable play checks whether the rest of the cards can still turn after this one leaves. A smooth move is not the same as a looser table. Cards that moved are not progress. Routes that opened are.
Foundation cards come back only through Undo
A foundation is not storage. After a card goes up, you cannot drag it to a column or a free cell. If you still needed it as a landing, Undo is the only way back. A dragged run counts as one move. Auto counts each card it collects.
Collect after the cascades can still work
Aces, twos, and threes should go home. Not every legal card should go now. Check whether anything can still land after it leaves, and whether an empty column can take over.
Auto takes every legal card
Auto repeatedly homes every card that currently fits a foundation. It will not spare a landing, and it does not promise the deal stays solvable. It will not rebuild your cascades. Do not let it choose the midgame.
One Undo restores the whole batch and the move count. The timer does not roll back.
Hint can walk a run a drag will not complete
Hint runs Freecell Solver in the browser, then a local heuristic. The first press only marks. The second plays. A run over the drag cap can be walked as single-card helpers. It is not guaranteed shortest. If the position cannot be finished, Hint says so. Solving stays on the device.
Spending room, two ways
Each pair is the same position spent two ways. The diagrams are not a required line from a numbered deal.
After it enters a free cell, can it leave
A bottom card covers a low. One free cell is empty. After you park it, it will not build onto any column and will not go home yet.
- Lift it to uncover the low
- Build it onto another column at once
- The cell is empty again
- Fill the last free cell
- The next landing is still unnamed
- Only the bottom card can move
If two or three moves later you still cannot name the card in that cell, it has been full too long.
Should a fresh empty column take a singleton
A column has just cleared. You have a 5 with nowhere to build, and a ready alternating run that needs workspace.
- Leave the column empty
- Drop the ready run onto it
- The blocked cascade comes apart
- The column has just cleared
- Drop a 5 with no next landing
- The run has nowhere to go
Onto that empty column, skip it in the helper count. Two free cells and one empty column: at most four cards onto that column.
Club 6 can go home. Is it still a landing
The club 6 fits its foundation. A heart 7 is still in the columns, and no other black 6 is free. Three free cells are already full.
- Skip Auto
- Build heart 7 onto club 6
- The last free cell stays empty
- Club 6 goes home
- Heart 7 loses its landing
- A free cell often fills instead
Legal is not a reason. Whether the cascades can still work after the card leaves is the test.
Midgame questions
Why does the midgame seize up all at once?
Usually the cards were fine. Earlier moves spent room and never put it back. Cells stayed full, an empty column was refilled, a landing went home, and only the next card still moved.
Three spending movesWhen has a free cell been full too long?
If two or three moves after it filled you still cannot name the next landing, it has been full too long. Park, uncover, return.
Free-cell exampleShould an empty column take a singleton or wait?
Waiting is usually worth more. Singles can sit in many places. An empty column exists only after you clear one. If it can still take a run apart, do not treat it as an ordinary dump.
Empty-column exampleShould the midgame send fewer cards home?
Send them when the cascades can still turn, not by habit. If collecting a card cuts a landing, wait. Auto will take every legal card. Do not let it choose.
Collection exampleHow do I tell progress from stalling?
Look for a real gain: another free cell, an empty column, a landing kept, or a cascade closer to empty. If none of those happened, you probably only moved cards. A handy build is not a looser table.
Three kinds of roomIf I move onto an empty column, does that column count as a helper?
No. Subtract it. Two free cells and one empty column: eight cards onto an occupied column, four cards onto that empty column.
Empty-column workspaceAfter this page, what should I practice first?
Two habits: name the next landing before a free cell fills, and do not refill an empty column the moment it appears. Those two keep most midgames from collapsing.
Before you moveBefore this move
- Count free cells after it. If this spends the last one, the next landing must already be named.
- Does this move earn an empty column, or refill one you just cleared?
- Is the card you can collect or build still a landing? Do not let Auto decide.
Empty columns take any rank, but still only one card or one run. With every free cell full and no empty column, you can move only the bottom card. When a move is unclear, trust the highlighted landings and the matching section on the rules page.
Play a deal in this order