How to Play FreeFan Solitaire

A single-deck game combining Fan solitaire with two temporary storage cells, adding flexibility to the traditional fan layout where only Kings can fill empty spaces. The goal: Move all 52 cards to four foundation piles, building each suit from Ace to King.

Setup

1. All 52 cards are dealt face-up into 18 fan piles (the layout spreads cards out like a hand of cards in a fan shape)
2. Four foundation piles wait to build up by suit from Ace to King
3. Two temporary cells sit ready to hold one card each for temporary storage

How to play

• Cards automatically move to the foundation piles by suit once they can no longer be used elsewhere; you can customize this in Settings
• From the fan piles, you can only move the top card of each pile
• In the fan, build downward by one rank and matching suit (7 on 8, 6 on 7, etc.)
• Use the two cells to store cards temporarily when you need to access cards buried in the fan
• Only a King can fill an empty fan pile; don't waste this space on lower-ranked cards

How to win

Objective: Move all 52 cards to four foundation piles, building each suit from Ace to King.

The game is won when all four foundation piles are complete from Ace to King. You're stuck when no valid moves remain.

Tips

• Be selective about which cards go into the cells—they're limited and precious
• Focus on building same-suit sequences in the fan to free up cards for the foundations
• Remember that only Kings can reuse empty spaces, so plan ahead when emptying piles

Play FreeFan free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes FreeFan 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 Fan family:

• Intelligence — A two-deck solitaire where you arrange 18 piles of 3 cards and build them upward or downward within suit.
• Midnight Clover — Build four foundations from aces while managing a 16-pile fan where cards can only be moved from the top.
• Three Shuffles — A fan variant of La Belle Lucie: every card is dealt face up into 18 tableau piles, with the option to reshuffle and redeal twice, plus a final draw of a buried card.
• Ceiling Fan — A single-deck Fan-family game that spreads all 52 cards face up across 18 tableau piles and builds down by alternating color, making for a more open layout than standard Fan.
• Fan — A one-deck game with 18 tableau piles arranged in a fan pattern where only Kings can fill empty spaces and the entire deck is dealt at once.