Introduction: Freecell Solitaire is one of the most popular solitaire card games being played today. It is easy to play, requires some strategy, but is usually winnable. For people who like strategy in their solitaire games, this one is a must. Double FreeCell uses two decks and four freecells. It is a fun variation of FreeCell.
Goal: Build up all cards in sequence, from ace to king, on the eight foundation piles.
Time: About 30 minutes
Wins: Usually
Decks: Two Decks
Layout: After shuffling, 10 tableau piles are dealt in the following way. For the first row, a card is dealt in the each of 10 columns, face up. The same is done for rows 2 through 10, with the card overlapping so that you can see the rank and suit of each card underneath. All cards are dealt in Freecell, leaving no stock pile. Eight spaces are left open for foundation piles at the top right part of your layout. One card is dealt to each of the four freecell piles. These are in the left column of your layout. The initial layout for Double Freecell Solitaire will look like this.
Play: The goal in Double Freecell Solitaire is to build each foundation pile in suit from ace to king (Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King). So, when you come across an Ace, you may place it in any foundation pile that hasn't been started yet. Then when you uncover a 2 in the same suit, it may be placed on the ace, followed by a 3, etc.
The top face-up card on the each tableau pile is available for play. Also, any card in a freecell is available for play. In order to build up the foundation, you need to uncover the covered-up cards in the tableau, to get them into play. You do this by moving tableau cards onto the foundation and onto the four freecells, and onto other columns in the tableau. Each freecell can hold only one card at a time.
Cards on the tableau are build down in alternating colors. So, in this way, either red queen may be placed onto either black king. And, either the red six of hearts or the red six of diamonds may be placed onto either the black 7 of spades or the black 7 of clubs. These cards are all overlapped, so that you can see what they are. The high card is a king and the low card is an ace, so a king may not be placed on an ace in Freecell Solitaire. When a card becomes uncovered, and hence, becomes the top-most card in a column , that card is now available for play.
Cards in sequence on a column in the tableau may be moved as a unit, and, unlike many variation of FreeCell, there are no limits to the number of cards moved at a time. Moving more than one card at one time is often a useful move.
Freecells can hold only one card at a time, and the cards in the freecells are available for play. It is best to keep as many freecells empty as possible. This allows flexibility in moving cards around the tableau. If at all possible, try to move cards onto the freecells only when necessary, and only when you can move them back off the freecells back onto the tableau piles, or foundation, as soon as possible.
Cards may not be moved from the foundation back to the tableau or onto any of the freecells. Because of this, it may make more sense to keep cards on the tableau and in the freecells, and available for play, rather than moving them early on to the foundation.
Gaps in the tableau may be filled with any available card or valid sequence. Creating a gap is usually a good move in this Double Freecell variation of solitaire. When you have created a gap, try to fill the gap with as large a sequence of cards as possible.
Continue playing in this manner. Move cards from the freecells to the tableau and the foundation, and from the tableau to the foundation and to the freecells, and within the tableau, trying to uncover tableau cards and move them to the foundation.
When no more moves can be made on the tableau, freecells, and foundation, the game is over and lost.
Gaps: Gaps in the tableau in Freecell Solitaire are made when all of the cards are moved out of a column of the tableau. When this happens, the gap may be filled with any available card or valid sequence. Try to fill a gap with as large a sequence as is valid.
Redeals: In this variation of Freecell Solitaire, there are no redeals.