# How many cards can you move at once in FreeCell?

You try to move a run of five cards in FreeCell and the game will not do it, even though the run would fit on its destination. Why? Because the number of cards you can move at once depends on how many free cells and empty columns you have, and every card you park in a free cell makes that number smaller.

## One card at a time, officially

FreeCell's rules move one card at a time. To save you the clicking, Card Lounge moves a whole run at once whenever it could be done card by card with the space available. The limit is:

`capacity = (empty free cells + 1) × 2^(empty columns)`

An empty column that the run is moving into does not count towards that power.

## Where the formula comes from

**Free cells.** With c empty free cells you can move c + 1 cards: put the top c cards into the cells, move the bottom card to its destination, then bring the others back one by one. Two empty cells move three cards.

**Empty columns.** An empty column doubles the figure. Move half the run into the empty column using the free cells, move the other half to the destination the same way, then bring the first half across. Two empty columns double it twice.

**The destination.** If the destination is itself an empty column, it cannot also serve as storage, so it is left out of the count.

## Worked example: six cards, two cells, one empty column

You have two empty free cells and one empty column, and you want to move the run 9♠ 8♥ 7♣ 6♦ 5♠ 4♥ (4♥ on top) onto a 10♥ in another column. The run descends in alternating colours, and a black 9 may go on a red 10. Capacity is (2 + 1) × 2 = 6, so the game allows it. Done by hand, it takes these steps:

1. 4♥ and 5♠ go into the two free cells.
2. 6♦ goes into the empty column.
3. 5♠ goes onto 6♦, then 4♥ onto 5♠. The cells are empty again.
4. 7♣ and 8♥ go into the free cells.
5. 9♠ goes onto the 10♥.
6. 8♥ goes onto 9♠, then 7♣ onto 8♥.
7. 4♥ and 5♠ go into the free cells, 6♦ goes onto 7♣, then 5♠ and 4♥ follow it.

That is 15 single-card moves, and the column and both cells end up empty again. If you wanted the same run in the empty column itself, the destination would no longer count: capacity is (2 + 1) × 1 = 3.

## Numbers worth knowing

For a run moving onto a card in another column:

- No empty cells and no empty columns: 1 card.
- 1 empty cell: 2 cards. 2 cells: 3. 3 cells: 4. 4 cells: 5.
- 4 empty cells and 1 empty column: 10 cards.
- 2 empty cells and 2 empty columns: 12 cards, or 6 if the run goes into one of those columns.
- No empty cells but 1 empty column: 2 cards.

## Every parked card has a price

With no empty columns, each card you put in a free cell lowers capacity by one: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. With one empty column each card costs two (10, 8, 6, 4, 2), and with two empty columns each costs four (20, 16, 12, 8, 4).

It also shows why an empty column is usually worth more than a free cell. With two empty cells and no empty column you can move 3 cards. Freeing a third cell raises that to 4; emptying a column instead raises it to 6.

Some habits follow:

- **Look for a tableau home first.** A card placed on a matching card in the tableau costs nothing.
- **Before parking a card, ask how it will leave.** A card that can go to its foundation soon, or onto a card you are about to uncover, is a short loan. A card with no exit in sight is a long-term tax.
- **Be wary of parking Kings.** A King cannot go onto any tableau card, so once in a free cell it can only leave for an empty column or its foundation.
- **Aim to empty a column.** A short column is the cheapest to clear, and the space it creates doubles everything.

## Worked example: freeing an Ace without a cell

Column 3 ends with A♣, then 9♦, then 4♠ on top. Column 5 shows 10♣ and column 7 shows 5♥. The quick way to reach the Ace is to put 4♠ and 9♦ in free cells, which cuts capacity from 5 to 3 if all four cells were empty and no column was.

The cheap way uses no cells at all:

1. 4♠ onto 5♥, a black 4 on a red 5.
2. 9♦ onto 10♣, a red 9 on a black 10.
3. A♣ to its foundation.

Same result, and all four cells are still free.

## Try it

Work out the capacity in each case, then check the answers below.

1. Three empty free cells, no empty columns, moving onto a card.
2. One empty free cell and two empty columns, moving onto a card in another column.
3. The same, but moving into one of the two empty columns.
4. All four cells full and one empty column, moving onto a card.

**Answers:** 4 cards, since (3 + 1) × 1 = 4. Then 8 cards, since (1 + 1) × 4 = 8. Then 4 cards, since only one empty column counts: (1 + 1) × 2 = 4. Finally 2 cards, since (0 + 1) × 2 = 2.

Put it into practice in [FreeCell](../play/freecell.html). To replay the same layout while you practise, see [what a FreeCell deal number means](freecell-deal-numbers.html), and the [strategy page](../strategy.html) has more general advice.