Introduction: Freecell 10 Solitaire is a simple variation of one of the most popular solitaire card games of all time: FreeCell. It is in some ways easier than FreeCell because more cards are available for play with 10 tableau columns, but it is in some ways more difficult than Freecell with only one freecell to work with. For people who like FreeCell, this one is a must to try.
Goal: Build up all cards in sequence, from ace to king, on the four foundation piles.
Time: About 20 minutes
Wins: Usually
Decks: One Deck
Layout: After shuffling, deal out all cards to ten tableau piles. Leave four spaces open for foundation piles. These are often in the top right part of your layout. Leave one additional space available for the single freecell location. This is often in the top left part of your layout. The initial layout for the Freecell 10 card game will look like this.
Play: The goal in Freecell 10 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). Place any ace you come across in an empty foundation pile. Then place 2's on the ace of the same suit, followed by a 3, etc.
The top face-up card on the each tableau pile is available for play. Also, any card which has been placed in the single freecell is available for play. You must uncover the cards underneath the top-most cards in each tableau pile to make them available. Do this by moving tableau cards onto the foundation and the single freecell, and onto other columns in the tableau.
Build cards on the tableau down in alternating colors as in FreeCell. In the example image of Freecell 10 Solitaire, you can place the red queen on the black king, and place the black queen on the red king. 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 10. 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, but the number of cards which may be moved at one time depends on the current layout. See a more detailed discussion of this in our description of the FreeCell solitaire game in the fourth paragraph of the Play Section.
Freecells can hold only one card at a time, and in this game there is only one freecell location. Any card placed here is available for play to the tableau or to the foundation. It is best to keep this freecell empty as much as possible. This allows flexibility in moving cards around the tableau. If at all possible, try to move cards onto the freecell only when necessary, and only when you can move them back to the tableau piles, or foundation, as soon as possible.
Cards may not be moved from the foundation back to the tableau or onto the freecell. So, it makes a lot of sense to keep cards on the freecell and in the tableau, available for play, instead of moving them to the foundation in the early part of the game.
Any gaps in the tableau may be filled with any available card or valid sequence. Take note of the rule described above about the number of cards in a sequence that can be moved at one time. Creating a gap is often a good move in the Freecell 10 card game. 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, moving cards from the freecell to the tableau and the foundation, and from the tableau to the foundation and to the freecell, and within the tableau, trying to uncover tableau cards and build the foundation.
The game is lost when no more moves can be made on the tableau, freecell, and foundation.
Gaps: A gap in the tableau in Freecell 10 is made when all of the cards are moved out of a column of the tableau. The gap can be filled with any available card or valid sequence. Try to fill a gap with as large a sequence as is valid.
Redeals: In Freecell 10, no redeals are allowed.