Klondike vs FreeCell
Klondike is the solitaire most people learned first: seven columns with face-down cards, a stock you turn through, and four foundations to build from Ace to King. FreeCell deals all 52 cards face up into eight columns and gives you four free cells as temporary parking spaces instead of a stock.
That single change, open information, turns FreeCell into a pure puzzle: nearly every deal can be solved with careful planning. Klondike keeps an element of luck, because the card you need may be buried under face-down cards or deep in the stock.
Side by side
| Klondike | FreeCell | |
|---|---|---|
| In one line | The classic solitaire: build four foundations from Ace to King. | All cards face up. Use four free cells to untangle the columns. |
| Players | 1 | 1 |
| Family | Solitaire | Solitaire |
| Type | Solitaire | Solitaire |
| Options | Cards per draw: Draw one or Draw three | Standard rules only |
| Online turn timer | — | — |
The differences that matter
- Information: Klondike hides most of the tableau face down; in FreeCell every card is visible from the first move.
- Extra room: Klondike gives you a stock and waste pile (draw 1 or draw 3); FreeCell gives you four free cells that hold one card each.
- Empty columns: only a King, or a run starting with a King, may fill an empty Klondike column; any card can fill an empty FreeCell column.
- Moving runs: FreeCell limits how many cards you can move at once by the free cells and empty columns you have; Klondike lets you move any properly built run.
- Winnability: many Klondike deals cannot be won however well you play; almost every FreeCell deal can.
Which should you play?
Choose Klondike if you want a relaxed, familiar game where turning a hidden card is part of the fun, and draw 1 keeps it gentle.
Choose FreeCell if you enjoy thinking several moves ahead and want every loss to be your own fault rather than the shuffle's.
How to play Klondike
Build the four foundation piles up by suit from Ace to King.
On the tableau, build down in alternating colours. Only a King (or a run starting with a King) may fill an empty column.
Click the stock to turn cards onto the waste; the top waste card can be played. When the stock is empty you may turn the waste over again, a limited number of times.
Face-down cards are turned up when uncovered. The game ends when all cards are on the foundations or no moves remain.
How to play FreeCell
Move all cards to the four foundations, building each suit up from Ace to King.
On the tableau, build down in alternating colours. Any card may fill an empty column.
Each of the four free cells holds a single card.
You may move several cards at once as a sequence; the number is limited by the free cells and empty columns you have.
The game ends when you win, when no move is possible, or after a long time without progress.