Fantastic! I had given up ever not getting hopelessly stuck in this game after trying over and over countless times, but after I watched this video I tried again and won first time out! Thanks. :- )
The part that confuses me is your ability to move whole stacks of cards at a time. In all of the freecell games I've played you can (technically) only move one card at a time, so when you're moving a stack, it can only be one more than the number of free cells you have available (i.e. moving a stack is a quick way of moving those cards into the freecells and then to their new placement). So, at one point, you're moving a stack of five cards, even though you only have three free cells. No game I've ever played would have let me move more than a stack of four cards at that point (which would equate to moving them individually into the free cell spaces, and then move them to their new place from there.
Cale GP, suggestions to make this better. 1. SPEED UP THE RULES -- BUT SLOW DOWN THE GAME. You spend a lot of time slowly laying out your rules, TOO slowly for me, because I figured that stuff out pretty quickly. What matters to me, & I suspect most people, is HOW you use that strategy. But then, when you get into the game, you speed up. You make plays SO FAST that it's very hard to follow what you're doing. All of a sudden, cards are flying every which way -- and I defy anyone to follow what you're doing. 2. FIND A HARDER GAME. The games that are real killers are the ones that seem unwinnable, where these rules don't seem to apply. You just don't see "free moves." You can't find a way to achieve anything without putting two -- or even three -- cards up in the four cells at the top. THAT'S what I'd like to see you beat. It has been demonstrated that every Freecell hand is winnable. It sure doesn't seem that way! I'd like to see you show us how you win one of the really tough hands. It takes more than these four principles, no?
There are numbers that have a difficult decision. For example, 17683 was recently. Perhaps the best option is to solve these the first time.... Don't touch anything at first. Look. Think very carefully about all the paths. This can sometimes take several hours! The further you can see, the better. And only then start moving the cards, especially if you are confident in the right choice. It is also important not to make mistakes once the path is found. This approach is best if you play for the number of wins in a row.
i make the game more challenging by trying to solve only the expert level card sets and never use the ability to put an ace or any other number up on the right, just letting them jump there automatically only. then consider a win if can accomplish this 3 times in a row. expert level card sets are considered solvable with the default rules, but this self-imposed limitation probably means a few would not be and this makes getting 3 in a row particularly difficult. Sometimes I play for many hours before I can do it. You definitely learn strategy playing this way. This will also ruin your statistics, but who is to know :)
I just played that game. It was so easy. Does it start from left to right: 7,10,2,Q A(with another A on top of it), 7, K, 5 on the bottom, all red but the 7?
