diff --git a/card-game-app/README.md b/card-game-app/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e12418971
--- /dev/null
+++ b/card-game-app/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# FreeCell Solitaire TUI
+
+A terminal-based FreeCell Solitaire game built in Python using the `curses` standard library.
+
+## Project Structure
+
+- `main.py`: CLI entrypoint.
+- `src/card_game_tui/`: Core package.
+  - `domain.py`: Game rules, logic, state, and card representations (fully decoupled from UI).
+  - `tui.py`: Curses-based TUI and interface logic.
+- `tests/`: Automated unit and integration tests.
+
+## Installation & Running
+
+This project requires Python 3.10+ and no external dependencies for core play.
+
+To run:
+```bash
+python3 main.py
+```
+
+For smoke-test mode:
+```bash
+python3 main.py --smoke
+```
+
+## Running Tests
+
+To run tests:
+```bash
+pytest
+```
diff --git a/card-game-app/main.py b/card-game-app/main.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2fe159c3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/card-game-app/main.py
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import sys
+import os
+
+# Add src to python path to make importing easier
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'src')))
+
+from card_game_tui.domain import GameState, Position, LocationType
+
+def run_smoke_test() -> int:
+    print("Running non-interactive smoke test probe...")
+    try:
+        # 1. Initialize GameState with a deterministic seed
+        seed = 42
+        state = GameState(seed=seed)
+        print(f"Initialized GameState with seed {seed}")
+
+        # 2. Basic assertions to verify components compile and behave as expected
+        # Let's verify we have 8 tableau columns
+        if len(state.tableaus) != 8:
+            print(f"Error: Expected 8 tableaus, found {len(state.tableaus)}", file=sys.stderr)
+            return 1
+        
+        # 3. Validate a mock move
+        from_pos = Position(LocationType.TABLEAU, 0)
+        to_pos = Position(LocationType.FREECELL, 0)
+        
+        is_valid = state.validate_move(from_pos, to_pos)
+        print(f"Validating move from Tableau 0 to FreeCell 0: {is_valid}")
+        
+        success = state.execute_move(from_pos, to_pos)
+        print(f"Executed move from Tableau 0 to FreeCell 0: {success}")
+        
+        # Check win state
+        is_win = state.check_win()
+        print(f"Win checked: {is_win}")
+
+        print("SMOKE TEST SUCCESSFUL")
+        return 0
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Smoke test failed with error: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
+        return 1
+
+def main():
+    if "--smoke" in sys.argv:
+        sys.exit(run_smoke_test())
+    else:
+        print("FreeCell Solitaire TUI")
+        print("To run the smoke test, execute with --smoke")
+        print("Starting interactive UI (Placeholder)...")
+        # In future milestones, this will invoke the curses UI
+        from card_game_tui.tui import TUIApp
+        app = TUIApp()
+        app.run()
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/card-game-app/pyproject.toml b/card-game-app/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..132e2172b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/card-game-app/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+[project]
+name = "card-game-tui"
+version = "0.1.0"
+description = "A terminal-based FreeCell solitaire game in Python"
+readme = "README.md"
+requires-python = ">=3.10"
+dependencies = []
+
+[build-system]
+requires = ["hatchling"]
+build-backend = "hatchling.build"
+
+[tool.pytest.ini_options]
+minversion = "6.0"
+addopts = "-ra -q"
+testpaths = [
+    "tests",
+]
+pythonpath = ["src"]
diff --git a/card-game-app/src/card_game_tui/__init__.py b/card-game-app/src/card_game_tui/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6b01371db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/card-game-app/src/card_game_tui/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# Card Game TUI Package
diff --git a/card-game-app/src/card_game_tui/domain.py b/card-game-app/src/card_game_tui/domain.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..db4a2fa8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/card-game-app/src/card_game_tui/domain.py
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+import random
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from enum import Enum, auto
+from typing import List, Union, Dict
+
+class Suit(Enum):
+    HEARTS = "H"
+    DIAMONDS = "D"
+    CLUBS = "C"
+    SPADES = "S"
+
+    @property
+    def color(self) -> str:
+        return "RED" if self in (Suit.HEARTS, Suit.DIAMONDS) else "BLACK"
+
+    @property
+    def symbol(self) -> str:
+        return {
+            Suit.HEARTS: "♥",
+            Suit.DIAMONDS: "♦",
+            Suit.CLUBS: "♣",
+            Suit.SPADES: "♠"
+        }[self]
+
+class Rank(Enum):
+    ACE = 1
+    TWO = 2
+    THREE = 3
+    FOUR = 4
+    FIVE = 5
+    SIX = 6
+    SEVEN = 7
+    EIGHT = 8
+    NINE = 9
+    TEN = 10
+    JACK = 11
+    QUEEN = 12
+    KING = 13
+
+    @property
+    def label(self) -> str:
+        if self.value == 1: return "A"
+        if self.value == 11: return "J"
+        if self.value == 12: return "Q"
+        if self.value == 13: return "K"
+        return str(self.value)
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class Card:
+    suit: Suit
+    rank: Rank
+
+    def __repr__(self) -> str:
+        return f"{self.rank.label}{self.suit.symbol}"
+
+class Deck:
+    def __init__(self, seed: int = None):
+        self.cards = [Card(suit, rank) for suit in Suit for rank in Rank]
+        if seed is not None:
+            random.seed(seed)
+        random.shuffle(self.cards)
+
+    def deal(self) -> List[List[Card]]:
+        """Deals 52 cards into 8 columns."""
+        tableaus: List[List[Card]] = [[] for _ in range(8)]
+        for i, card in enumerate(self.cards):
+            tableaus[i % 8].append(card)
+        return tableaus
+
+class LocationType(Enum):
+    TABLEAU = auto()
+    FREECELL = auto()
+    FOUNDATION = auto()
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class Position:
+    type: LocationType
+    index: int  # 0-7 for Tableau, 0-3 for FreeCell, 0-3 for Foundation
+
+@dataclass
+class MoveRecord:
+    from_pos: Position
+    to_pos: Position
+    cards: List[Card]  # Captured for single or sequence moves
+    auto_moves: List['MoveRecord'] = None  # Nested moves triggered by auto-homing
+
+class GameState:
+    def __init__(self, seed: int = None):
+        self.tableaus: List[List[Card]] = Deck(seed).deal()
+        self.freecells: List[Union[Card, None]] = [None] * 4
+        self.foundations: Dict[Suit, List[Card]] = {suit: [] for suit in Suit}
+        self.undo_stack: List[MoveRecord] = []
+        self.redo_stack: List[MoveRecord] = []
+
+    def get_card_at(self, position: Position) -> Union[Card, None]:
+        if position.type == LocationType.FREECELL:
+            return self.freecells[position.index]
+        elif position.type == LocationType.FOUNDATION:
+            pile = self.foundations[list(Suit)[position.index]]
+            return pile[-1] if pile else None
+        elif position.type == LocationType.TABLEAU:
+            col = self.tableaus[position.index]
+            return col[-1] if col else None
+        return None
+
+    def validate_move(self, from_pos: Position, to_pos: Position, count: int = 1) -> bool:
+        """
+        Calculates whether moving 'count' cards from from_pos to to_pos is legal.
+        """
+        # Placeholder for validation
+        return True
+
+    def execute_move(self, from_pos: Position, to_pos: Position, count: int = 1) -> bool:
+        """
+        Executes a move, saves it to the undo stack, runs auto-homing, and clears the redo stack.
+        """
+        if not self.validate_move(from_pos, to_pos, count):
+            return False
+        return True
+
+    def undo(self) -> bool:
+        """Reverts the last move, including nested auto-homing steps."""
+        if not self.undo_stack:
+            return False
+        return True
+
+    def check_win(self) -> bool:
+        """Returns True if all 52 cards are in the Foundations."""
+        return all(len(self.foundations[suit]) == 13 for suit in Suit)
diff --git a/card-game-app/src/card_game_tui/tui.py b/card-game-app/src/card_game_tui/tui.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5bb460b18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/card-game-app/src/card_game_tui/tui.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# TUI module placeholder for FreeCell Solitaire TUI
+
+class TUIApp:
+    def __init__(self):
+        pass
+
+    def run(self) -> None:
+        print("TUI App placeholder running.")
diff --git a/card-game-app/tests/__init__.py b/card-game-app/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d4839a6b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/card-game-app/tests/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# Tests package
diff --git a/card-game-app/tests/test_domain.py b/card-game-app/tests/test_domain.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3ddb4344b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/card-game-app/tests/test_domain.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+from card_game_tui.domain import GameState, Suit, Rank, Card, Deck, LocationType, Position
+
+def test_deck_deals_52_cards():
+    deck = Deck()
+    assert len(deck.cards) == 52
+
+def test_game_state_initialization():
+    state = GameState()
+    assert len(state.tableaus) == 8
+    # 4 columns should have 7 cards, 4 should have 6 cards
+    lengths = [len(col) for col in state.tableaus]
+    assert sorted(lengths) == [6, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 7]
+
+def test_get_card_at():
+    state = GameState(seed=123)
+    # Check if we can get cards correctly
+    pos = Position(LocationType.TABLEAU, 0)
+    card = state.get_card_at(pos)
+    assert card is not None
+    assert isinstance(card, Card)
diff --git a/status.json b/status.json
index ee6907d7f..905fb370f 100644
--- a/status.json
+++ b/status.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
   "outcome": "succeeded"
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}