Tuesday, September 26, 2006

 

FreeCell

Hello,

A simple way to keep the mind active and enjoy it too.

FreeCell is a solitaire played with a pack of playing cards. It keeps one busy physically and active mentally. It is a game which has gained much popularity, especially on the computer which takes the drudgery out of the shuffling of the cards. It is one game which keeps the mind in good shape as it is being enjoyed. Besides this, there are many lessons in life one can learn from the logic and moves of the game. It trains the mind to solve problems within constraints of space, order and sequence using simple logic. One finds its usefulness to practical problems as one plays the game. This is so when one needs to shift furniture about to paint the rooms, for example.

In the game FreeCell the cards are dealt out open from left to right onto eight columns, with the last four columns having six cards each, one card less than the other four columns, jokers excluded. The aim is to rearrange and stack all the cards in ascending order, from ace to king by their respective suits, at the four designated positions at the top right hand corner. There are four spaces at the top left hand corner where the cards from the columns may be moved out to temporarily and then moved back onto the columns for the purpose of rearranging the cards. In the eight columns, the cards can be moved about and placed over another column so long as they are in descending sequence, ace over two over three over four etc. and of alternate colours, black on red or red on black etc., not necessary of the same suit, all this under the single rule that there are available spaces to position the cards about one at a time.

As one will learn quickly, it is advantageous to get the aces out or free the columns as soon as possible, and then position the kings in the columns for subsequent stacking of the rest of the cards in descending order of alternate colours.

This FreeCell game is easy going and not complicated, although some of the combinations can be quite difficult to solve, but rarely has one encountered the impossibles. There are people who are known to have been hooked by all the combinations that the computer can dish out. Initially there were over thirty thousand combinations, but now the number has gone into six digits.

Like all other solitaires, FreeCell aims to challenge the mind to keep it active and the hands busy, to be enjoyed in times of boredom and not to make one become addicted.

Have a nice day
Ronald

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