Use Beetle’s visible opening before drawing.
Beetle starts with 44 cards face-up across ten columns and 60 more in stock. You can inspect every opening tableau card, but a stock deal covers occupied columns. Unlike standard Spider, it skips empty columns, making a cleared space useful across deals.
Last updated: September 2026
Trace cards through the open tableau
Beetle uses two decks, so there are two copies of each suit and rank. Before moving a card, compare where both copies of the next needed rank sit. One copy may be accessible while the other is under a movable group. Choose a run to extend based on which move frees another useful card, not solely on the length of the visible run.
Cards build down by rank regardless of suit, but only descending same-suit groups move together. A completed same-suit King-to-Ace run is removed automatically. The Spider family guide explains this shared movement rule and the cost of a mixed placement.
What a cleared column changes
Beetle’s opening columns hold four or five cards. Clearing a shorter column can create staging space for separating an otherwise immovable mixed stack. The stock then deals one card to each occupied column; it leaves an empty column alone. That lets you draw without sacrificing the cleared space, although every occupied top is covered by a new card.
If you can clear a column with a legal tableau move, doing so before a stock deal leaves that column open after the deal. Drawing first covers the occupied source column and may postpone the clearing move. Check whether the move also exposes a useful rank; an empty column without a follow-up has less immediate value. The stock-skip behavior is verified against the Beetle engine.
Check the row before committing to it
A stock draw is available whenever stock remains. It is not restricted to moments with no tableau moves. Before drawing, inspect current same-suit joins and cards exposed by moves from the short columns. A productive transfer may be harder after a new card lands on its destination. You need eight completed runs to finish; there is no waste pile or stock recycling in this implementation.