Play Repair — Two-Deck FreeCell With Every Cell Already Full
Repair is FreeCell played with two packs, and it opens in the tightest position the family offers.
Ten columns are dealt ten cards each, all face up, and the last four cards of the deal go straight into
the four cells — so the game begins with no free cell at all. Cards build down in alternating colour, a
packed run travels as a unit, any card may fill an empty column, and there are eight
foundations rather than four, two for each suit. That last point matters more than it sounds: a second
ace of spades opens a second spade foundation rather than waiting behind the first king, so the two packs
unwind in parallel. Nothing is hidden, so every deal is a pure planning problem. Free in your browser, no
sign-up, and it works offline once the page has loaded.
How Do You Play Repair?
Goal: build all 104 cards onto the eight foundations, each up in suit from an ace.
Setup
- Two decks: 104 cards in all.
- Columns: ten columns of ten cards, every one face up.
- Cells: four, and the deal fills all four.
- Foundations: eight — two per suit, one for each deck.
Rules
- Build down in alternating colour: a red six goes on a black seven.
- A packed run moves as a unit, as far as the free cells and empty columns allow.
- Any card may fill an empty column, which makes an empty column the most valuable thing on the board.
- A cell holds exactly one card, and all four start occupied.
- Each foundation builds up in suit from an ace. Two foundations may hold the same suit, one per deck.
- Nothing is hidden and there is no stock. Every card is visible from the first move.
- You win when all 104 cards are on the foundations. You lose when no legal move remains.
What's the Best Repair Strategy?
- Empty a cell before you do anything else. With all four full you can move exactly
one card at a time — the move limit is one plus the free cells, doubled for each empty column, and
you start at the bottom of it. Finding a home for a cell card is the opening problem.
- An empty column is worth more than two cells. The limit doubles for each one, so
clearing a short column early transforms the board. Ten columns of exactly ten means none is shorter
than another at the start — pick the one whose bottom cards are most useful.
- Two foundations per suit is a real advantage — use it. Do not hold a low card back
because the suit's foundation is already high. Start the second one. It costs nothing and gives you
somewhere to send the duplicates that would otherwise clog a column.
- Duplicates cut both ways. Every card has a twin, so a partner is rarely far away —
but the win needs all 104, and a card you bury under its own duplicate is twice the problem.
- Plan the whole sequence before you start it. Nothing is hidden, so a move you
cannot finish is a mistake you could have seen. With undo free, it costs nothing to try a line and
step back.
A Short History
Repair takes FreeCell — the most respected open patience there is — and doubles the pack without
doubling the cells. The single-deck game gives you eight columns and four cells for fifty-two cards; Repair
gives you ten columns and the same four cells for a hundred and four, and then fills those cells before you
have played a card. The result is a game that feels cramped in a way FreeCell never does, and one where the
first three or four moves matter more than any others. What keeps it fair is the foundations: eight rather
than four, two per suit, so both packs can unwind at once. The open-source PySolFC collection, whose rules
this version follows, tags it as an open game and rates it mostly skill — the same rating it gives FreeCell
itself. The name is apt: the deal looks broken, and the game is putting it back together.
About This Version
This Repair 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