How to Play ForeCell Solitaire

An early ancestor of FreeCell: use four cells and build the tableau with King-only spaces to work all cards onto the foundations. The goal: Build all four Ace foundations up to Kings by suit.

Setup

1. Four cards are dealt to the four cells at the start (they begin full, not empty)
2. Eight tableau piles of six cards each are dealt face-up below
3. Four foundation piles wait for Aces

How to play

• Build the tableau down by one rank in opposite color; only the top card of each pile can be moved
• Play or move a cell's card elsewhere to free it up, then use the empty cell to temporarily hold any card
• Only Kings can be placed on empty tableau piles
• Play top cards from the tableau or cells to the foundations to build up by suit
• Once a card in the tableau or cells has no other cards it can be built on, it moves automatically to a foundation pile (you can change this in Settings)
• Continue moving and sequencing until all cards reach the foundations or no moves remain

How to win

Objective: Build all four Ace foundations up to Kings by suit.

You win when all cards are built onto the four foundations. You're stuck when cells are full and no tableau or foundation moves are possible.

Tips

• Try to fully clear a tableau pile so you can start a fresh run there with a King
• Use cells strategically to free up buried cards in the tableau
• Build foundation piles to unblock key cards and create more working space

Play ForeCell free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes ForeCell alongside 300+ other games. It saves every move as you play, so you can close the window and pick the game up later, replay any deal, and take on a new Daily Challenge deal every day. Browse every game in the Game Gallery.

Related games

More games from the FreeCell family:

• FreeCell — All 52 cards deal face-up into eight tableau piles, with four open cells alongside them for shuffling cards while you build the foundations up by suit.
• Sea Towers — Sea Towers is a popular FreeCell variant with a different starting layout and stricter building rules.
• Stalactites — A minimal tableau puzzle where you clear 48 cards arranged in eight columns using only two temporary holding cells.
• Tuxedo — Tuxedo deals every card face up across seven tableau piles right from the start, and gives you seven free cells to help shuffle cards around while you build foundations by suit.
• Antares — Antares blends two classic tableaus into one game: four piles play by FreeCell's alternating-color, single-card rules, and four piles play by Scorpion's same-suit, flexible-group rules, all feeding the same foundations and free cells.