Rules
Josephine 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 a one-pass stock.
- Draw one card at a time from the stock to the waste.
- There is no redeal in this version.
- Eight foundations build upward by suit from ace to king.
- Tableau columns build downward by suit.
- Same-suit descending sequences may move together.
- Empty columns accept any available card or valid same-suit sequence.
- Win by moving all 104 cards to the foundations.
How to play
How to play Josephine Solitaire
Josephine is a two-deck foundation builder. Your goal is to build eight foundations from ace to king by suit: two foundations for clubs, two for diamonds, two for hearts, and two for spades. The tableau starts wide and visible, with ten columns of four face-up cards.
A move usually starts from the top waste card or from a tableau card that can legally move. Single cards build down by suit in the tableau. A 7 of clubs can go on an 8 of clubs, but not on an 8 of spades or an 8 of diamonds. Foundations go the other direction, upward by suit from ace to king.
The rule that makes Josephine different is packet movement. If a column contains a clean same-suit descending run, such as 10-9-8 of hearts, you may move that run together. That extra freedom makes empty columns more powerful and lets careful players untangle blocks that would stay frozen in strict Forty Thieves.
Setup
The layout on this page
Josephine uses 104 cards. Forty cards are dealt to the tableau, four cards in each of ten columns. All tableau cards are visible, but cards below other cards are still blocked unless they begin a valid movable sequence.
The eight foundations sit above the tableau. The stock holds the remaining 64 cards and turns one card at a time to the waste. Only the top waste card is playable.
Stock
How the stock and waste work
This version uses draw-one stock with no redeal. Each draw places a new card on top of the waste. If you draw while the current waste card has a useful move, that card becomes covered and may be unavailable for a long time.
The stock is often tempting because Josephine gives you 64 unseen cards after the deal. Still, the stock is not a reset button. It is a one-way line of chances, so play useful waste cards before you cover them.
Moves
Legal and illegal Josephine moves
Tableau moves are same-suit and descending. A single 9 of spades may move onto a 10 of spades. A 9-8-7 of spades sequence may also move onto a 10 of spades. The bottom card of the moving packet must fit the destination.
A packet is movable only if every card in it descends by one rank and stays in the same suit. If a 9 of hearts has the 8 of hearts and then the 7 of clubs above it, the 9-8 pair cannot lift away because the 7 of clubs is sitting on top and breaks the exposed packet.
FoundationAce of hearts starts either heart foundation
Foundation6 of clubs onto 5 of clubs
Tableau9-8-7 of spades onto 10 of spades
Empty columnAny available card or suited sequence
Illegal9 of hearts onto 10 of diamonds
Illegal9-8 of hearts if a 7 of clubs sits on top of it
Foundations
How the eight foundations work
Foundations start with aces and build upward in the same suit through king. Because there are two decks, each suit must be completed twice. A 5 of diamonds can only go onto a 4 of diamonds foundation, never onto a heart, club, or spade foundation.
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Foundations take single exposed cards, not whole sequences. If you have a 7-6-5 of clubs packet in the tableau, only the top card can move to a foundation when it is ready. The packet rule helps you reorganize the tableau; the foundations still climb one card at a time.
Spaces
Empty columns are stronger in Josephine
Empty columns accept any available card or same-suit descending sequence. In Forty Thieves, a space often moves only one blocker. In Josephine, the same space can carry an entire suited run out of the way and expose several useful cards at once.
Do not spend a space casually. Before filling one, check whether the card or packet you place there will create another move. A sequence in an empty column is useful when it can later land on its next higher card or feed foundations from the top.
Visibility
Why an open tableau can still be tricky
Josephine shows the tableau from the start, so the puzzle is not about guessing hidden cards. The challenge is access. You may see an ace buried under a mismatched run, or a perfect 9-8-7 sequence that has nowhere to land.
The stock adds the uncertainty. You know the missing cards exist somewhere in the 64-card stock, but you do not know whether the needed 10 arrives before the waste card you are trying to save.
Strategy
Josephine Solitaire strategy that uses the packet rule well
First, scan for aces and low foundation cards. Starting foundations early gives waste cards somewhere permanent to go and reduces clutter in the tableau. Low cards are usually safer to send up than middle cards, because middle cards may still be needed as landing places.
Build runs that can move. A tidy same-suit run is valuable only if it has a future: a next higher card to land on, an empty column to occupy, or a foundation path from the top. Avoid making long decorative piles that trap low cards under kings and queens with no exit.
Use empty columns to move packets, not just cards. A space can pull a whole suited run away from a buried ace or free a column top that creates a foundation move. If a single waste card can wait but a packet move opens three cards, the packet move is often better.
Draw only after checking the current waste card. The one-pass stock is still strict. A waste card that extends a suited sequence, starts a foundation, or fills a space with a useful packet should usually be played before another draw covers it.
Mistakes
Common Josephine mistakes
- Forgetting that tableau builds by exact suit, not by color.
- Moving a packet into a space without a plan for moving it again.
- Drawing past a waste card that could extend a suited run.
- Sending a useful middle card to a foundation too early.
- Assuming every visible descending run is movable when the suits do not match.
- Building one foundation copy far ahead while the second copy of that suit is starved.
Winnability
Is Josephine Solitaire winnable?
Josephine is not guaranteed from a random shuffle. It is friendlier than strict Forty Thieves because movable sequences create more tableau freedom, but it still has a one-pass stock, suit-only building, and eight full foundations to complete.
This page does not claim a win-rate number. A useful percentage would need to be measured against this exact ruleset: draw one, no redeal, same-suit tableau builds, movable same-suit sequences, and the undo and hint behavior used here.
Variants
Josephine, Forty Thieves, and nearby house rules
Josephine belongs to the Napoleon at St Helena or Forty Thieves family. The family shape is recognizable: two decks, ten tableau piles, eight foundations, and a stock that feeds a waste pile. Small rule changes make large differences in difficulty.
The key Josephine change is sequence movement. Some related games allow only one-card moves, some build by alternating color, and some give redeals or more relaxed empty-space rules. This page keeps Josephine focused: same-suit building, movable suited packets, any card or packet to an empty column, and no redeal.
Difficulty
Why Josephine feels strategic without becoming loose
Josephine sits in a satisfying middle place. It is less punishing than Forty Thieves because a well-built run can move together, but it is not as open as FreeCell. You still need the right suit, the next rank, and enough space to keep packets useful.
Compared with Spider, Josephine does not clear complete king-to-ace runs from the tableau; every card must eventually reach a foundation. Compared with Australian Patience, it uses a wider ten-column tableau. Compared with Klondike, there is less hidden tableau suspense and much more emphasis on suit discipline.