FreeCell History: Origins, Evolution & Fun Facts

FAQs

• What is the history of FreeCell? 

  
  FreeCell was a development of older card games such as Baker's Game. It was converted into a computer game by Paul Alfille in the year 1978. It was then ported to Windows by Jim Horne, and when Microsoft made it part of Windows 95 in 1995, it became one of the most played video games in the world.

• Who invented FreeCell? 

  
  FreeCell was developed by Paul Alfille at the University of Illinois's PLATO computer system in 1978. He changed the Game created by Baker, making it different so that card building would be done in alternating colors rather than the same suit, and this is what has made FreeCell the game it is at present.

• Why did FreeCell become popular? 

  
  This was primarily due to Windows being sold by Microsoft alongside Windows 95, which sold more than 40 million copies in its first year. That made FreeCell available on more computers than any other game in history, at virtually no cost, and playable.

• Is every FreeCell game solvable? 

  
  Almost. Among all Microsoft deals, 32,000 are solvable, and deal 11982 is the only unsolvable one. Of the initial 1 million deals, only 8 cannot be won, and the chance of getting an impossible game is very low.