How to play FreeCell solitaire
FreeCell deals every card face up, so there's no luck after the shuffle: almost every deal can be won with enough thought.
Setting up
One deck, dealt face up into eight columns: the first four get seven cards and the last four get six. Above them are four free cells and four foundations.
How to play
Build the columns down in alternating colours. Any single card can be moved to an empty free cell, and a card in a free cell can be played back to a column or a foundation.
Officially only one card moves at a time, but you can move a run in one go when there's room to do it card by card: up to (empty free cells + 1) × 2 to the power of the empty columns. Moving into an empty column, that column doesn't count.
An empty column takes any card or run. Foundations are built up in suit from ace to king.
The numbered deals
Deal numbers follow the well-known numbering: the shuffle for each number is worked out from the number with the same published formula, so deal 1 here has the same layout as deal 1 in other FreeCell programs that use it. Deals 1 to 32,000 are the classic set, and higher numbers work the same way. Of the classic 32,000, only deal 11982 has no solution. Choose a number with "Play a deal number" in Options.
Winning
Move all 52 cards to the foundations. With "Move safe cards automatically" on, cards that can no longer be useful in the columns (aces, twos, and cards whose lower opposite-colour cards are already home) go up by themselves.
Tips
Free cells fill up fast; try to keep at least one empty. Getting an empty column is worth more than an empty cell because it doubles how many cards you can move at once. Look for the aces and the low cards buried deepest and plan around freeing them.
Questions
Can every FreeCell game be won?
Almost. Of the 32,000 classic deals only 11982 is impossible; a handful of others are very hard.
Can I take cards back from the foundations?
No. As in most FreeCell programs, cards on the foundations stay there.