FreeCell (Microsoft, Windows, 1991)

FreeCell
Developer: Microsoft Publisher: Microsoft Platform: Windows Released internationally: September 30, 1991 This game has debugging material. This game has revisional differences.

FreeCell is another all-time favorite among lazy workers. It managed to spawn quite a lot of clones seeking to improve upon the original.

Debug Menu

Unlike its sister game Solitaire, the debug menu is still accessible here. Press Ctrl + Shift + F10 to trigger a dialog box offering three options: Ignore, Retry, and Abort. Ignore just closes the message box, Retry causes you to lose when you make your next move, and Abort induces an instant win.

The menu was likely there to check whether the win/lose stuff works properly, as there doesn't seem a point in cheating in a game like this.

Special Games

The game lets you specify the seed for the RNG used to shuffle the cards. The game has a few trick seeds that result in special deals.

• -1 - The unwinnable deal shown in the screenshot.
• -2 - Another unwinnable deal.
• -3 - Rigged so that making a single move will lead to the game automatically winning itself. Not all versions have this seed.
• -4 - Automatic win again. Again, not all versions have this seed.

Version Differences

Icon

The Windows XP version receives a new icon, with the old icon used as a low color depth fallback.

Windows Entertainment Pack through Windows ME	Windows XP

About Screen

The Windows Entertainment Pack version has its own About screen. The Win32s version uses the Windows About screen, as did the versions that came with Windows 95 and later.

Windows Entertainment Pack	Win32s	Windows XP

Other Differences

• The Windows XP version increased the number of deals from 32,000 to 1,000,000.
• The Windows Entertainment Pack and Win32s versions lack the ability to undo the last move.

Game Modes

The Windows Entertainment Pack and Win32s versions have a hidden "Standard mode" and "Fast mode", activated by pressing CTRL+F1 and CTRL+F2, respectively. These appear to be absent in later versions.

Standard	Fast