Comments on: How to Beat the Impossible Freecell Game

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 22 May 2012 23:40:26 +0000

@fred Most programs search exhaustively and at least eight independent programs were unable to find a solution. A game like FreeCell isn’t all that complex and with Moore’s law we have access to more and more of it. With today’s processors, a hundred million combinations can be tested in seconds.

By: fred

fred — Tue, 22 May 2012 22:01:26 +0000

I doubt that any computer program searches exhaustively; I think that would take far more computational power than anyone has. But it still probably has no solution. What are the odds that there is a solution or class of solutions but only when done by one very precise and unexpected sequence of events? Usually there are a LOT of ways to do them, that’s why it’s so easy to stumble onto one of them.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 22 May 2012 06:10:27 +0000

@Sam Yup

By: Sam Williams

Sam Williams — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:39:14 +0000

I’ve won games 1 thru 21605 to date but never won 11982. Is it still proven unbeatable?

By: Nagaraju

Nagaraju — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 11:00:20 +0000

I did not know that many people had already written about game no. 11982. I came across this game and was trying for two days, every time hitting the impossible position. Perhaps the reason is that four number sets are piled one on another in this set. They are Black 5, Red 9, Black 4 and Black 7.

By: raldo

raldo — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:34:49 +0000

hi have yall ever tried #-1 that i think is impossible!!!!

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:17:02 +0000

@Champswest The easiest way would be to record the screen as you play the game.

By: Champswest

Champswest — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 02:53:22 +0000

If you were able to beat it, how would you ever prove it? Are you expected to remember each move and be able to repeat it?

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:56:26 +0000

@iplayzharder You played a different game. If you don't believe you did, what was your solution? Wambooli couldn't solve it and offered a $25 prize for someone else to solve it, but no one could. The FreeCell FAQ declared it to be impossible after exhaustive research. I quote, "11982 has now eluded solution by probably thousands of human solvers, and at least eight independent computer programs I am aware of (most of which are designed to search exhaustively for a solution), and I am confident in calling it impossible."

By: iplayzharder

iplayzharder — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:07:15 +0000

I play freecell evryday @ work and i beat it with no cheats, it is very easy, i have come across some that were more difficult than that.