The Hardest FreeCell Games

[Pyrotex]

You have all played M$ solitaire, and probably got bored with it as I did--very quickly. Now, FreeCell is a much more challenging game. Most folks have to play at least a dozen games before they finally get their very first win.

However, once you get the hang of it, you can win a LOT more often than at solitaire. My brother told me there was a "proof" that all FreeCell games could be won, if you knew the right strategy. I admit that I have gotten rather good at FreeCell, typically winning 90% or more of the games on first try, and often getting win streaks of 40 or more without any loss.

Here is a list of the hardest FreeCell games I found. The game number can be typed into FreeCell and you get to play the same game. The "!" indicate how many straight loses I suffered on that game before I won. If there is an "X" at the end, then (so far) I have NOT won that game, ever. Here goes:


7303 !!!!! !!!!! !!!!! !
7305 !!!!
7354 !!!!! !!!!!
7585 !!!
8618 !!!!!
8652 !!!!!
8950 !!!!
9121 !!!!
10103 !!
10394 !!!!
10692 !!!!! X
11193 !!!!! !
11593 !!!
11601 !!!
11894 !!!!! X
13182 !
13321 !!!
14046 !!!!!
14767 !!!!
15331 !!!
15589 !!
15897 !!!!! !
16186 !!!!
16349 !!!!! !!!!!
16736 !
17655 !!!!
19633 !!!!!
20703 !!!
21587 !!
22163 !!!
22447 !!!
22756 !!!!! !!!!
23990 !!!!! !!!!
27005 !!
27111 !!!!!
24639 !!
25644 !! X
28258 !! X
29001 !!!!
29557 !!!!! !
29826 !!
30242 !!!!!
30506 !!!!! !!
31243 !! X
31918 !!!!! !!!!! X

[pgrmdave]

I LOVE playing Freecell - although I definitely need to be in one of my more patient moods

I'll have to start recording the game number and adding to a list here.

[cwes99_03]

I can't play unfortuneately because my cohort has put out a domain rule to disable games on my computer. But that keeps me on Hypography instead of endlessly playing games.

[ronthepon]

Oh my god, how many games have you completed, pyro?!

Those numbers seem to show that one game followed the previous number... did you play 30,000?!!

[Boerseun]

Haha... scratch 25644.

I know you've only tried it twice, but I cracked it first time [/brag]

Seems there are 1,000,000 games on my machine to choose from - are we playing the same version?

Oh yes - I'm more of a Spider Solitaire kinda guy...

[Chacmool]

FreeCell is from the devil! It is utterly addictive!

Fortunately the IT guys at my current workplace had the foresight to disable it on my computer, so I don't get tempted to play at work.

A few years ago, however, I had lots of time to kill in the job I had at the time. So I started playing the FreeCell games at number 1, and I could only progress to the following number once I had solved the previous one. I reached over 1 000 games (out of a potential 32 000) before I changed jobs.

[Pyrotex]

Originally Posted by ronthepon

Oh my god, how many games have you completed, pyro?!
Those numbers seem to show that one game followed the previous number... did you play 30,000?!!

I don't think so.
Normally, the games appear in random order, so I might play game 1893 and then game 29902. I never made any attempt to play the games sequentially, though, that is a thought. Hmmm.

No, I just started a diary of tough games about a year ago. I was inspired to post this thread when I came upon game 31918. After ten tries I couldn't even get a third Ace off the board!! There didn't seem to be any winning path.

Since then, I HAVE beaten 31918, after 22 tries!!! And I cannot seem to repeat the win!!!

[Pyrotex]

Eat your hearts out!

[C1ay]

Originally Posted by Pyrotex

My brother told me there was a "proof" that all FreeCell games could be won, if you knew the right strategy.

Tell him to try 11982 then. AFAIK it is regarded as unsolvable. OTOH, I know for a fact that 617 is solvable but it did take me 3 tries.....

[TheBigDog]

Originally Posted by Pyrotex

Eat your hearts out!

Impressive.

I am superstitious with Freecell. I never hit the new game button. I always hit the select game, and then accept whatever random game is listed. And I always look at the stats before closing the game. And I must close the game after looking at the stats before I play another game.

Bill