Play Double FreeCell — Two Packs Into Four Wrapping Foundations

Double FreeCell puts two decks on the table and refuses to give them more foundations. Ten columns are dealt ten cards each, six cells stand empty, and the first pack's four aces are lifted out to found the four foundations before play. Each foundation then takes twenty-six cards: ace up to king, and then ace to king again. That is the whole difficulty. The second ace of spades cannot be played until the first king of spades is down, so a hundred and four cards funnel through four narrow channels. Cards build down in alternating colour, a packed run travels as a unit, and any card may fill an empty column. Free in your browser, no sign-up, and it works offline once the page has loaded.

How Do You Play Double FreeCell?

Goal: build every card onto the foundations.

Setup

• Two decks: 104 cards in all.
• Columns: ten, of ten cards each, all face up.
• Cells: six, all empty at the start.
• Foundations: four — one per suit, each taking 26 cards.

Rules

• Build down in alternating colour: a red six goes on a black seven.
• The first pack's four aces are already on the foundations when the game begins.
• A foundation runs past the king back to the ace, so each holds both packs of its suit in one sequence.
• The tableau does not wrap. A king may not be packed on an ace.
• A cell holds one card. Six of them, and any card may use any cell.
• A packed run moves as a unit, as far as the free cells and empty columns allow.
• Any card may fill an empty column.
• You win when all 104 cards are on the foundations.

What's the Best Double FreeCell Strategy?

• The second ace is the whole problem. Every suit has two of each card, and the second set cannot start until the first has finished. Work out early where the second aces are buried, because they will be the last cards you free and the first ones you need.
• Six cells is generous — spend them. The move limit is one plus your free cells, doubled per empty column, so six cells and one empty column already moves fourteen cards. That is enough to relocate most runs, and holding cells back wastes the game's main gift.
• Duplicates are not interchangeable. Two red sixes look alike but only one of them can be on a black seven. Track which pack each card belongs to when you plan a long run.
• Finish a suit rather than spreading yourself. Because the foundation wraps, getting one suit all the way to its first king is what unlocks its second half. Half-finishing four suits leaves every second ace stranded.
• An empty column is worth more than two cells. The limit doubles for each one. With ten columns of exactly ten, none starts shorter — pick the one whose bottom cards you can use.

A Short History

Double FreeCell and Repair are the same shape and very nearly opposites. Both take two packs, ten columns of ten and the alternating-colour build of FreeCell; both are open games with nothing hidden. What separates them is the foundations. Repair gives you eight, two for each suit, so both packs unwind side by side and a second ace opens a pile of its own. Double FreeCell gives you four, each running ace to king and then round again, so a hundred and four cards must pass through four channels in strict order. The source expresses it as a single setting on the foundation — modulo thirteen, twenty-six cards — and gives the game six cells rather than four to make it survivable. The result is a game about sequencing rather than storage: the question is never quite "where do I put this?" but "what has to happen before this can go home?". The open-source PySolFC collection, whose rules this version follows, rates it mostly skill.

About This Version

This Double FreeCell runs in your browser — free, no download, no sign-up. Install it as an app on your phone or computer; once installed it works offline. Unlimited undo, statistics, and a daily challenge that gives every player the same deal that day.

Other Solitaire Games to Try

• Repair — the same two-deck board with eight foundations instead
• FreeCell — the single-deck original
• German FreeCell — four cells, each tied to a suit
• Challenge FreeCell — FreeCell with a harder deal