Play Cruel Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)
Redeal the tableau as many times as you like, but nothing gets shuffled, so progress comes only from what you change. A tough single-deck game with a 15% win rate.
Cruel Solitaire earned its name honestly. A descendant of the old patience Perseverance, it reached a huge audience in 1990 when it shipped with the first Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows, and it has been frustrating players in the best possible way ever since.
The four Aces begin on the foundations, and the remaining forty-eight cards are dealt into twelve face-up piles of four. Piles build down in suit, one card at a time, and an emptied pile may not be refilled during play.
The signature move is the redeal. Click the empty stock slot and the tableau is gathered up pile by pile and dealt out again in fours — without any shuffling. You may redeal as often as you like, but because nothing is shuffled, redealing without making a move first hands you back exactly the same layout. Progress comes only from what you change between redeals.
Be ready for a difficult single-deck game — expect to win roughly 15% of the time, and count on skill, not luck, to get you there.
Perseverance A Solitaire is the patience Cruel descended from, and Ripple Fan Solitaire offers the same tight, all-cards-visible puzzle in a different shape.
After Cruel, the original Solitaire is the natural next stop.
If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.
Enjoy playing!
How to play Cruel Solitaire
Layout:
4 foundation piles: Build up in suit from Ace to King. The four Aces are dealt here at the start of the game.
12 tableau piles: Build down in suit. Only the top card of each pile may be moved, and empty spaces may not be filled. Each pile is dealt four cards at the start of the game.
Stock: The stock slot stays permanently empty — click it to gather up the tableau and deal it out again in fours. Redeals are unlimited and the cards are never shuffled.
Foundation:
There are four foundation piles, and each starts the game holding an Ace.
A card can be added to a foundation pile only if it's one rank higher and the same suit as the pile's current top card, so the only card that fits on an 8 of spades is a 9 of spades. There can be no more than 13 cards in a pile.
The top card of each foundation can be moved back into play if another pile will accept it.
Tableau:
Twelve tableau piles of four cards each, fanned downward. Every card is dealt face-up.
A card can be added to a tableau pile only if it's one rank lower and the same suit as the pile's current top card, so the only card that fits on an 8 of spades is a 7 of spades.
Cards on the tableau that are not covered by another card are free to be played onto the foundation or any other tableau pile.
Empty tableau spots may not be filled during play, though a redeal can cover them with cards again.
Only one card may be moved at a time; sequences are not permitted.
Stock:
There is no waste pile, and the stock never holds any cards. It is the button for Cruel's famous redeal.
When you click on the stock slot, the tableau piles are picked up in order, top to bottom and left to right, and dealt out again four cards to a pile. The order never changes — no shuffle takes place — so if you redeal without making a move, you get the identical layout back.
You may redeal as many times as you wish.
