Cruel and Perseverance strategy
Both games seed four Ace foundations and deal the other 48 cards face-up into twelve piles. Tableau cards build down in suit, and foundation cards build up in suit. Empty tableau piles cannot be refilled. The important difference is movement: Cruel moves only one top card; Perseverance can move a complete descending same-suit tail.
Last updated: September 2026
Find the next suit card under an exposed top
Each foundation needs the next rank in its suit. A tableau move is useful when it exposes one of those cards or preserves a landing place for it. Moving a card simply because its suit matches another top can bury a rank needed first. Examine both the source and destination before committing.
Perseverance moves ordered runs
Perseverance allows a face-up same-suit descending tail to move as a group. Cruel allows only the top card. In a constructed position, Queen of Hearts–Jack of Hearts can move together onto King of Hearts in Perseverance; the Queen cannot lead that group move in Cruel. This is useful when moving the run exposes a needed foundation card.
Perseverance permits at most two redeals. Cruel has no numerical redeal limit, but the redeal must change the tableau layout. In both games, redeal is offered only after no ordinary move remains.
A redeal changes top-card access
At a standstill, the remaining tableau cards are collected left to right and dealt into twelve piles of four. Foundation cards remain in place. The new deal may expose a card that was covered before; it can also cover a useful top. Because redeal is unavailable while ordinary moves remain, check the effect of each possible tableau move before you reach the next forced arrangement.