Play Relaxed Cruel Solitaire Online — Cruel With Runs

Relaxed Cruel lifts Cruel's one cruelty. The four aces start on the foundations, the other forty-eight cards are dealt face up into twelve columns of four, columns build down in suit, and an empty column takes nothing. The relaxation: a packed run in suit moves as a unit, where Cruel moves one card at a time. When you are stuck, the columns are gathered and redealt four to a column without shuffling, as often as you like. Bank all 52 to win.

Setup

Shuffle one deck and place the four aces on the foundations. Deal the remaining forty-eight cards face up into twelve columns of four. There is no stock; the redeal pile shows how many redeals remain, which here is unlimited.

Rules

• Foundations build up in suit from the ace.
• Tableau builds down in suit: the seven of clubs on the eight of clubs.
• Runs travel: a packed run in suit moves as a unit.
• Spaces take nothing. An emptied column stays empty until a redeal.
• The redeal: when you are stuck, click the redeal pile. The columns are gathered in order, the first column's cards first, and dealt back four to a column without shuffling; columns at the end may be left empty.
• Redeals are unlimited. The game is over only when no move remains and a redeal would put every card back where it is.
• Win when all four foundations are complete.

Strategy

The redeal is a deterministic shuffle: gather in order, deal in fours. Because it never randomises, a board that comes back unchanged is finished. The whole game is arranging the columns so that each redeal brings new cards to the tops.

• Bank everything that will go. Cards on the foundations leave the redeal cycle; every card banked changes the next deal.
• Unbalance the columns before a redeal. Twelve columns of exactly four redeal to the same board. A column of five beside one of three shifts every card after it by one.
• Use runs to reach hosts. A packed run lifts as one; move it to expose the card beneath, then bank or build.
• Empty columns are not spaces. They take nothing, but they change the count for the next redeal, which is worth planning around.
• Read the next deal. The order after a redeal is knowable: walk the columns in order and count in fours to see which cards will top the columns.
• Redeal early when nothing improves. Shuffling runs between columns for its own sake does nothing; a redeal that changes the tops does.

Where It Sits in the Castle Family

Relaxed Cruel is Cruel with run moves, admitted as its own game because the cap dropped is its whole delta. It is the first of the Cruel line on the castle engine, with Ripple Fan, Indefatigable and Perseverance beside it, all sharing the gather-and-redeal measured first against the live Cruel.

Other Games to Try

• Cruel — the original, one card at a time
• Ripple Fan — the aces in the pack and a thirteenth column
• Indefatigable — up or down in suit, two redeals
• Perseverance — kings buried, two redeals in reverse

About This Version

Relaxed Cruel runs in your browser — free, no download, no sign-up. Install it as an app on your phone or computer and it works offline. You get unlimited undo, a hint button that names a legal move, statistics that track your wins and times, and seeded deals: every game has a seed you can replay, so a board you enjoyed (or lost) can be played again exactly.