Learning Freecell By Doing and Explaining Games 289, 290 and 291

Completing Freecell Games 289, 290 and 291 on my iPad to teach and demonstrate techniques for solving challenging games

FreeCell is a one-player card game where the goal is to move all 52 cards from the tableau to four foundation piles, building them up in ascending order (Ace to King) by suit. Players move cards between columns, free cells, and foundation piles, strategically using empty spaces to rearrange cards and build sequences. Here's a breakdown of the rules: 1. Objective: • Move all 52 cards from the tableau to four foundation piles, one for each suit. • Each foundation pile must be built in ascending order, starting with the Ace and ending with the King. 2. Setup: • Deal 52 cards face up into eight columns, forming the tableau. • The first four columns have seven cards each, and the last four columns have six cards each. • Four free cells are available at the top left for temporarily storing cards. • Four foundation piles are located at the top right. 3. Gameplay: • Moving Cards: Only the top card of a column can be moved. • Foundation Piles: Move Aces to the foundation piles as soon as they become available. • Tableau Columns: o A card can be moved to another column if it is one rank lower and of the opposite color (e.g., a red 6 on a black 7). o Sequences of cards (descending and alternating colors) can be moved if enough free cells are available to hold the sequence one card at a time. • Free Cells: o Any single card can be moved to an empty free cell. o A card can be moved from a free cell to a column or foundation pile if the move is legal. • Empty Columns: Any card can be moved to an empty column. • Winning: The game is won when all cards are moved to the foundation piles. • Losing: The game is lost if no more legal moves can be made and free cells are full.