Rules
Forty Thieves Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use two standard 52-card decks, for 104 cards total.
- Deal 40 cards face up into ten tableau columns of four cards each.
- The remaining 64 cards form the stock.
- Draw one card at a time from the stock to the waste.
- This version has one stock pass and no redeal.
- Eight foundations build upward by suit from ace to king.
- Tableau columns build downward by suit.
- Only one card may move at a time.
- Empty tableau columns accept any available single card.
- Win by moving all 104 cards to the foundations.
How to play
How to play Forty Thieves Solitaire
Forty Thieves is a two-deck foundation builder with a wide open tableau and strict movement. Your goal is to build eight foundations from ace to king by suit. Because two decks are in play, each suit has two foundations: two clubs, two diamonds, two hearts, and two spades.
On each turn, use an available card: the top card of a tableau column or the top waste card. Move it to a foundation if it is the next card of that suit, or move it to the tableau if it builds down by suit. A 7 of clubs can go on an 8 of clubs. A 7 of clubs cannot go on an 8 of spades, even though both are black.
Background
What is Forty Thieves Solitaire?
Forty Thieves is one of the classic longer patience games. It is sometimes associated with the name Napoleon at St Helena, and it belongs to a family of strict two-deck games where tableau order, stock timing, and empty spaces matter more than quick luck.
The name comes from the 40 cards dealt to the tableau at the start. Those cards are all visible, so the game does not hide information in the same way as Klondike. The difficulty comes from limited movement. You can see the problem, but you often cannot move the exact card you want until several same-suit blockers have been untangled.
Setup
The layout on this page
The tableau has ten columns. Each column starts with four face-up cards, so the opening board shows 40 cards. The stock starts with the remaining 64 cards and turns one card at a time to the waste.
Above the tableau are eight foundations. Empty foundations need aces. Once a foundation has an ace, it accepts the 2 of the same suit, then the 3, and so on through king.
Stock
How the stock and waste work
This version draws one card at a time. The newest waste card is the only waste card you can play. If you draw again, the old waste card is covered and cannot be used until the cards above it have moved away.
There is no redeal. That one rule changes the whole mood of the game. Drawing is not just a way to look for help; it spends an irreversible chance to use the current waste card.
Moves
Legal and illegal Forty Thieves moves
Tableau building is same-suit and descending. If a column ends with the 10 of hearts, the only card that can build onto it is the 9 of hearts. The 9 of diamonds is the same color, but it is illegal here. The 8 of hearts is the right suit, but it skips a rank.
Only a single available card moves. Even if a column has a perfect 10-9-8 of spades on top, you cannot lift that sequence as a group in this version. You must move the top card first, then the next top card if it has a legal destination.
FoundationAce of hearts starts either heart foundation
Foundation6 of clubs onto 5 of clubs
Tableau9 of spades onto 10 of spades
Empty columnAny single available card
Illegal9 of hearts onto 10 of diamonds
IllegalMoving a packed sequence together
Foundations
How the eight foundations work
Foundations are the only way to win. Each foundation starts with an ace and builds upward in the same suit: ace, 2, 3, 4, all the way to king. Since two decks are used, each suit must be completed twice.
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Foundation moves are often good, especially aces and low cards that unlock more play. Still, a middle card can be useful in the tableau as a landing place. If moving it to a foundation strands a same-suit lower card, wait until the tableau no longer needs that support.
Spaces
Empty columns are your main work space
Empty columns accept any available single card. That makes them the most flexible resource in Forty Thieves. A space can rescue a useful waste card, peel a blocker off a column, or temporarily hold a king while lower cards move underneath.
Because sequences cannot move together, a space is also fragile. Filling it with a card that has no follow-up can close the one lane you needed to free a buried ace or same-suit connector.
Visibility
Why visible cards still create a hard game
Forty Thieves shows every tableau card from the start, but visible does not mean easy. The cards under a column top are blocked until the cards above them move one at a time. A perfect foundation card may sit in plain sight and still be unusable.
The stock adds hidden order instead of hidden tableau cards. You know 64 cards are coming, but not whether the next helpful ace appears before or after the waste card you just had to cover.
Strategy
Forty Thieves Solitaire strategy that keeps the game alive
Start by scanning for aces and low foundation cards. Getting foundations started creates permanent progress and gives future waste cards somewhere useful to go. Do not treat every foundation move as automatic, though. If a 7 of clubs is the only landing place for the 6 of clubs, sending that 7 home too early may freeze a column.
Protect empty columns. A space is not merely an empty pile; it is a temporary tool for unstacking a blocked column. Before filling one, ask what the card will let you do next. If the answer is nothing, leave the space open until a waste card or tableau card needs it.
Draw slowly when the waste card has a job. The stock has no redeal here, so every draw covers the current waste card. If that card can start a foundation, build down by suit, or occupy an empty column to release another card, consider using it before drawing again.
Build tableau columns with purpose. Same-suit descending piles are valuable because they line cards up for later foundation movement, but a long same-suit pile can also become a tower you cannot move as a group. Try to build in a way that exposes low cards and creates foundation progress, not just neat-looking columns.
Mistakes
Common Forty Thieves mistakes
- Drawing past a useful waste card because the stock feels harmless.
- Forgetting that tableau builds by suit, not by alternating color.
- Assuming an ordered same-suit run can move as a packet.
- Filling an empty column with a card that does not unlock anything.
- Moving a tableau connector to a foundation before lower cards have used it.
- Ignoring duplicated suits and building both foundation copies unevenly.
Winnability
Is Forty Thieves Solitaire winnable?
Forty Thieves is not always winnable from a random shuffle. The game gives you a lot of information, but the no-redeal stock and single-card movement can make key cards arrive too late or sit behind blockers with no spare column available.
This page does not invent a win-rate number. A fair percentage would need to be measured against this exact implementation, including one-pass stock, undo, hint behavior, and the single-card movement rule.
Variants
Forty Thieves variants and house rules
The Forty Thieves family has many relatives and house rules. Some versions allow a redeal, some allow building regardless of suit, and some relatives permit moving packed sequences. Those changes make the game dramatically easier because they reduce the cost of a blocked tableau or an awkward waste card.
This page uses a strict, classic-feeling version: draw one, no redeal, build down by suit, and move only one card at a time. If a relaxed mode is added later, it should be presented as a separate option because it changes both the strategy and the difficulty.
Difficulty
Why Forty Thieves feels harder than many solitaire games
Forty Thieves is difficult because it is generous with cards but stingy with movement. You can see many of the cards. You have ten columns. You have two decks. Yet a single buried ace or a covered waste card can slow the whole game because only top cards move.
Compared with FreeCell, you have no free cells and far less sequence movement. Compared with Spider, complete runs do not clear from the tableau; every card must climb a foundation. Compared with Klondike, the tableau is more visible, but the same-suit build rule is far less forgiving than alternating colors.
Nearby games
How Forty Thieves compares with Spider, Canfield, FreeCell, and Klondike
Forty Thieves and Spider both use two decks and a wide tableau, but they reward different habits. Spider is about arranging descending runs that eventually clear. Forty Thieves is about feeding suit foundations while keeping enough tableau space to free blocked cards.
Canfield shares the feeling of limited space and foundation pressure, but its reserve and changing base rank create a shorter, tighter puzzle. FreeCell offers more control because every card is visible and temporary cells let you move longer sequences. Klondike is more familiar and more compact, with hidden tableau cards and alternating-color builds.