Play Cruel Solitaire Online - Beauty and Challenge Combined
Cruel Solitaire is an elegant and challenging card game that combines strategic tableau building with foundation work. With its unique redeal mechanism and careful planning requirements, it's a favorite among skilled solitaire players looking for a worthy challenge!
How to Play Cruel Solitaire
Objective: Build all four foundation piles up by suit from Ace to King.
Game Setup
- Foundations: Four Aces placed in foundations at the start
- Tableau: Twelve columns with 4 cards each, all face-up
- No Stock: All 48 remaining cards dealt to tableau
- Perfect Information: You can see all cards from the beginning
Basic Rules
- Tableau Building: Build down by suit (unlike most games!)
- Moving Cards: Only move one card at a time
- Empty Columns: Cannot be filled (they stay empty)
- Foundation Building: Build up by suit from Ace to King
- Redeal: When stuck, gather all tableau cards and redeal to 12 piles
- Unlimited Redeals: Keep redealing until you win or reach a position you've seen before
Winning Strategy for Cruel Solitaire
1. Build Foundations Early and Often
Unlike many solitaire games, you should build foundations aggressively:
- Move any available cards to foundations immediately
- Foundations never hurt you in Cruel (no need to keep cards in tableau)
- Building foundations frees up tableau space
- Lower cards in foundations = more building options
2. Understand the Redeal Mechanism
The redeal is your most powerful tool:
- Gather all tableau cards and redeal in order to 12 piles
- Cards redistribute based on remaining count
- Redealing can expose buried cards
- Track positions - if you see the same position twice, you're in a loop
3. Plan Before Redealing
Don't redeal randomly:
- Make all possible moves first
- Check if any foundation builds are available
- Look for moves that will expose key cards
- Sometimes a single move opens up several more after redeal
4. Suit Awareness is Critical
Since you build down by suit in tableau:
- Each suit needs its own building path
- A 7 can only go on 8, not 8
- This makes Cruel more restrictive than Klondike-style games
- Plan suit-specific sequences carefully
5. Watch for Deadlocks
Identify unwinnable positions:
- If you've seen the exact same card layout before, you're in a loop
- Cards blocking themselves (circular dependencies)
- High cards with no lower cards of same suit
- If redealing doesn't change possibilities, try different move order
6. Empty Columns are Permanent
Unlike most solitaire games:
- Once a tableau column is empty, it stays empty forever
- This reduces total tableau space with each empty column
- Don't empty columns unless necessary
- Fewer columns = fewer cards per column on redeal
Why "Cruel"?
The game earns its name from several challenging features:
- Same Suit Building: Very restrictive tableau rules
- No Free Cells: No temporary storage like FreeCell
- Single Card Moves: Can't move sequences
- Permanent Empty Columns: Lose tableau space permanently
- Potential Loops: Can get stuck in unwinnable redeal cycles
Cruel vs. Perseverance
Perseverance Solitaire is a slight variation of Cruel:
- Cruel: Aces start in foundations, 12 tableau columns of 4 cards
- Perseverance: Aces in tableau initially, must be moved to foundations
- Perseverance is considered slightly harder
- Same rules otherwise
Frequently Asked Questions
Is every game of Cruel winnable?
No, some deals are impossible to win even with perfect play. However, the redeal mechanism makes many more deals winnable compared to games without redeals. Win rates for skilled players are around 20-30%.
How many times can I redeal?
Unlimited times! However, if you reach the same card configuration twice, you're in a loop and should restart. The game should detect this automatically.
Why can't I fill empty columns?
This is a key rule of Cruel that makes it challenging. Once a column is emptied, it's gone forever. This means you should avoid emptying columns unless absolutely necessary.
Should I build foundations quickly or slowly?
Quickly! In Cruel, unlike many other solitaire games, building foundations early and aggressively is the right strategy. Foundations never hurt you, and they free up valuable tableau space.
What's the difference between Cruel and other solitaire games?
The key differences are: (1) Building down by suit in tableau (not alternating colors), (2) Unlimited redeals, (3) Empty columns can't be filled, and (4) All cards visible from the start.
Is Cruel a good game for beginners?
It's intermediate difficulty. The perfect information aspect makes it less frustrating than blind stock games, but the same-suit building and permanent empty columns require strategic thinking.
Face the challenge - play Cruel Solitaire now!
