FreeCell (Microsoft, Windows, 1991)

FreeCell is another all-time favorite among lazy workers. It managed to spawn quite a lot of clones seeking to improve upon the original.

Sub-Pages#

Bugs

Debug Menu#

Unlike its sister game Solitaire, the debug menu is still accessible here. Press Ctrl + Shift + F10 to trigger a dialog box offering three options: Ignore, Retry, and Abort. Ignore just closes the message box, Retry causes you to lose when you make your next move, and Abort induces an instant win.

The menu was likely there to check whether the win/lose stuff works properly, as there doesn't seem a point in cheating in a game like this.

Special Games#

The game lets you specify the seed for the RNG used to shuffle the cards. The game has two trick seeds that result in unwinnable deals.

• -1 - The unwinnable deal shown in the screenshot.
• -2 - Another unwinnable deal.

Version Differences#

Icon#

The Windows XP version receives a new icon, with the old icon used as a low color depth fallback.

Windows Entertainment Pack through Windows ME	Windows XP

About Screen#

The Windows Entertainment Pack version has its own About screen. The Win32s version uses the Windows About screen, as did the versions that came with Windows 95 and later.

Windows Entertainment Pack	Win32s	Windows XP

Other Differences#

• The Windows XP version increased the number of deals from 32,000 to 1,000,000.
• The Windows Entertainment Pack and Win32s versions lack the ability to undo the last move.
• Versions of FreeCell up to Windows XP can use empty columns as temporary storage when moving a sequence of cards in what is called a supermove. This algorithm would never attempt to transfer cards between two columns when there is more than one empty column; this was fixed in versions starting from Vista.

Unlike the Win32s and Windows XP versions, which reuse the "Do you want to resign this game?" prompt window from selecting/starting a new game when you exit the game, the Windows Entertainment Pack version brings up a "You resign." window when exiting the game.

Game Modes#

The Windows Entertainment Pack and Win32s versions have a hidden "Standard mode" and "Fast mode", activated by pressing CTRL+F1 and CTRL+F2, respectively. These appear to be absent in later versions.

Standard	Fast