How to play Forty Thieves Solitaire
Forty Thieves is a classic two-deck solitaire. The goal is to build eight piles, two for each suit, from Ace up to King. Every card in the layout is face up from the start, so there's nothing hidden but the order of the stock: it's a game of careful choices more than luck.
The deal
Forty cards are dealt face up in ten columns of four. The other 64 cards wait in the stock at the top left. The eight spaces along the top are the foundations, two for each suit.
Moving cards
- Build the foundations up by suit, from Ace to King. Tap a card twice to send it up when it can go.
- In the columns, build down in the same suit: the 6 of hearts on the 7 of hearts, for example.
- Only the top card of a column moves. As a shortcut, a run in suit can move together when there are enough empty columns to do it one card at a time: two cards with one empty column, four with two, and so on.
- Any card can go into an empty column. Empty columns are the most useful spaces in the game.
- Tap the stock to turn its top card onto the waste pile beside it. The top card of the waste can go up to a foundation or onto a column. In the classic game, you go through the stock only once.
Winning
You win when all 104 cards are on the foundations. Once the stock and waste are used up and the rest can simply go up in order, a Finish the game button appears and plays them up for you.
Easier rules
Forty Thieves is famously hard. For a gentler game, choose Easier in Settings: when the stock runs out, you can turn the waste over and go through it a second time.
Tips
- Empty a column as soon as you can. A space can hold any card, which lets you reach the card beneath it or park the waste's top card to get at the next one.
- Play everything you can before you turn the next stock card. Each new card covers the waste card under it, and in the classic game you won't see it again.
- Send cards up whenever they can go. Unlike in Klondike, holding cards back doesn't pay: in our tests, it won 307 of 1,000 games instead of 393.
- Build long runs in suit. They move together when you have empty columns, and they go up quickly once their Ace is out.
Questions
Can every game be won?
Every new and daily game we deal can be. By the classic rules, most random deals of Forty Thieves can't be won, so we only deal games that our program, which knows the order of the stock, has won. Even then you can't see the stock, so it's still a challenge: in our tests, following the Hint button alone won about 4 in 10 of these games, and 96 in 100 on Easier.
What does the Hint button do?
It suggests a move: a card up when it's safe, emptying a column, playing off the waste or building a run. If no single move helps, it looks a few moves ahead for the quickest way to send a card up or empty a column. It never looks at the order of the stock, and it suggests turning the next stock card only when nothing else helps.
Where does the name come from?
American books of the 1920s recorded the game as Forty Thieves and Big Forty. An older name, Napoleon at St Helena, comes from an 1870 book that described it as a favorite of Napoleon in exile.
Can I take back a move?
Yes. Undo takes back your moves one at a time, even turning a stock card back. Your game saves itself after every move.
What is the deal number?
Every deal has a number, and the same number always deals the same cards. Share the link to play the same game as a friend, or try today's deal, which is the same for everyone.
Learn more
- Forty Thieves Strategy: What Wins, CountedWin more Forty Thieves solitaire: use empty columns, look a few moves ahead, play everything before turning the stock, and send cards up when they can go.
- Can Every Game of Solitaire Be Won? The Real OddsHow many Klondike, FreeCell, Pyramid, TriPeaks, Golf, Scorpion and Mahjong deals can really be won — and why losing a game of solitaire often isn't your fault.