An Excellent Game Everyone Has, But Not Everyone Knows About.
Written: Jul 25 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Simple. Virtually no system requirements.
Cons: Very addictive, with little to show for your wins other than a statistic listing.
The Bottom Line: I find it much more fun than Solitaire.
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| grimjack2's Full Review: FreeCell |
I thought that this category was a joke when I saw someone else listing Freecell, but after reading some reviews, I realized that some people take the game very seriously. As a matter of fact, for some people, this may be the only video game that they play. I figure after 689+ games, I was enough of an expert to give my opinion too.
Like my title says, it is a free game that comes with every version of Windows, but many people don't know it is there, and many of those who do, don't know what it is. It looks a lot like Solitaire, but I think it is much better than that game. It is actually possible to win Freecell, and is much less dependent on the starting layout.
The game can be played very quickly. I'm sure it takes me more time to write this epinion than it would be to play a round. Each game takes me only four or five minutes to play if I win it. A game that I lose usually takes me more than ten minutes since I end up studying the cards for so long looking for a way out of a hole I buried myself in.
Freecell is played on a grid like Solitaire. A standard deck of 52 cards is randomly laid face up with 4 columns of 7 cards, and 4 columns of 6 cards each. There are four cells that are temporary storage, and 4 cells that are the home cells. Your goal is to get all the cards into the 4 home cells. Each home cell represents one suit. You can only move cards to the home cells starting with the Aces, then the 2's, then the 3's, up to the Kings. You can only pull cards off of the bottom of the columns. You can move cards to other columns if they are put on top of cards that fit a certain pattern. You can only put a card under the cell of another pattern if it is one less than the card above it, and it is of the opposite color. An example would be a black four can be put under a red five, and nothing else. Either red suit will work. You can move any card, any time, to one of the four temporary (or free) cells, but you can only move them out of the free cells back into the columns if they can fit the pattern. Hmmmphh! Reading this paragraph again, it sounds harder than it is. If you look at the game, I'm sure you will see the ease and beauty of its simplistic idea.
This is a great example of a game that is far better to be played on a computer than in real life. With real cards, it is hard to shuffle randomly, would take a long time to set up each round, and may not let you know when there are no moves left. Also, the computer makes your job simpler and less tedious by automatically moving large groups of cards at once.
The computer also keeps statistics of your wins and losses. Currently I am at 404 wins & 285 losses for a 59% winning average. My highest winning streak was 19, and worst losing streak was 7.
Theoretically, since every card is visible from the start, luck does not play a part in the game, just skill. They say any pattern can win, but I'm dubious. I can think of some patterns in my head that I don't think could ever be won.
Like many great games, this one takes minutes to learn, but ages to master, etc. etc.. Actually, you could probably master this in about 50 games, but you will still be playing it forever.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
grimjack2
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: San Rafael, CA, Marin County
Reviews written: 181
Trusted by: 124 members
About Me:
Film is my favorite art form. I live a life of constant amelioration.
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