Perseverance A

Game Objective:

The primary goal in Perseverance A Solitaire is to move all cards from the tableau to the four foundation piles, building each foundation in ascending order by suit from Ace up to King.

Setup & Layout:

• Deck: Use a standard 52-card deck.
• Foundations: Remove the four Aces from the deck and place them face up in a row to form the foundation piles.
• Tableau: Deal the remaining 48 cards into 12 tableau piles, each containing four cards.
  • All cards in the tableau are dealt face up.
  • If a King is dealt to any tableau pile, move it to the bottom of its pile during the initial deal.
• Play Areas Defined:
  • Foundations: Four piles (one per suit), built up from Ace to King.
  • Tableau: Twelve piles of four cards each, used for temporary card storage and manipulation.

Perseverance A Solitaire Rules:

• Card Movement Principles:
  • Only the top card of each tableau pile is available for play to another tableau pile or to a foundation.
  • Cards are moved according to strict suit and rank rules.
• Building on Foundations:
  • Foundations are built up by suit, in order: Ace, 2, 3, …, King.
  • Only the next higher card of the same suit may be played onto a foundation (e.g., 2♣ on Ace♣).
• Building on Tableau:
  • Tableau piles are built down in suit (e.g., 7♠ on 8♠).
  • Only the top card or a properly ordered descending in-suit sequence may be moved as a unit to another tableau pile (e.g., 6♠-5♠-4♠ onto 7♠).
  • Building down regardless of suit is sometimes cited, but the majority of authoritative sources specify building down strictly by suit.
• Moving Sequences:
  • You may move a sequence of cards in descending order and of the same suit as a group within the tableau.
  • Only sequences that maintain strict descending order and suit may be moved together.

Gameplay:

• Turn Sequence:
  • Move available cards from the tableau to the foundations whenever possible.
  • Move cards (or valid sequences) between tableau piles to uncover new cards and facilitate building onto the foundations.
• Redeal Mechanism:
  • When no further moves are possible, gather all tableau cards in reverse order (pile 12 on pile 11, combined on pile 10, and so forth until one stack remains).
  • Without shuffling, redeal the cards into 12 tableau piles of four cards each.
  • This redeal process may be repeated up to two times (for a total of three deals: the initial deal plus two redeals).
• No Filling of Spaces:
  • If a tableau pile becomes empty, it remains empty for the rest of the game.

Winning & Losing Conditions:

• Winning Condition:
  • The game is won when all cards have been built up onto the four foundation piles, each ending with a King of its suit.
• Losing/Unwinnable Condition:
  • The game is lost if, after the maximum number of allowed redeals (two), no further moves to the foundations are possible and not all cards have been moved to the foundations.

Special Rules & Edge Cases:

• Empty Tableau Piles:
  • Empty tableau piles are not filled at any point during the game; they remain permanently empty once cleared.
• Redeal Limit:
  • Only two redeals are permitted after the initial deal (for a total of three deals).
  • During redeal, cards are collected in reverse pile order and redealt in groups of four, preserving the order as much as possible.
• Movement Restrictions:
  • Only sequences of cards in strict descending order and of the same suit may be moved as a group within the tableau.
  • Only the top card of each tableau pile (or the top card of a valid sequence) is available for play.
• No Stock or Reserve:
  • There is no stock pile or reserve area in this variant; all play occurs between the tableau and the foundations.

Definitions:

• Foundation: A pile where cards are built up by suit, starting from Ace and ending with King.
• Tableau: The main play area consisting of twelve piles, where cards are built down by suit and sequences may be moved.
• Redeal: The process of gathering all tableau cards and redealing them into new tableau piles when no further moves are possible.

This ruleset reflects the unique mechanics and constraints of Perseverance A Solitaire as documented in authoritative sources.