How to play Forty Thieves
Forty Thieves is a classic two-deck solitaire, famous for being hard to win. Every card in the columns is face up from
the start, so it rewards careful planning. Your goal is to move all 104 cards to the eight foundations.
The layout
- Ten columns of four cards each, all face up.
- Eight foundations, two for each suit, built up from Ace to King.
- The stock holds the other 64 cards. The number on it shows how many are left.
- The waste, where stock cards are turned face up.
The rules
- In the columns, build down in suit: the 6 of hearts goes on either 7 of hearts.
- Only one card moves at a time. To save time, the game moves a run of one suit in one go when there are enough empty columns to move it card by card: two cards with one empty column, four with two, and so on.
- Any card can fill an empty column.
- Tap the stock to turn over one card onto the waste. Its top card can go to a column or a foundation. You go through the stock only once.
- Foundations build up in suit from Ace to King. Cards on them stay there.
Classic or Josephine
Classic Forty Thieves moves one card at a time. Josephine lets you move a whole run
of one suit together, whatever the empty columns, which makes the game a good deal easier. To switch, tap
New and pick a mode.
Scoring
A won game scores 1,040. Your best score in Statistics shows how close you've come.
Controls
- Drag a card or a run onto a column or a foundation. The places it can go light up while you drag.
- Tap or click a card to send it to the best place: a foundation if it fits there, otherwise a column.
- Tap the stock to turn over the next card.
- Hint shows a useful move. It looks a few moves ahead, and suggests the stock only when nothing better is left.
- Undo takes back as many moves as you like.
- When the stock is used up and the rest is a matter of time, Finish game plays it out for you.
-
On a keyboard, Space turns over a stock card, H shows a hint, Ctrl + Z
undoes a move and N starts a new game.
Tips for winning more games
- Empty a column early. An empty column is the most valuable thing on the table: it lets you move runs and reshuffle cards.
- Play the columns before the stock. You only get one pass, and every card you turn over can bury the one before it.
- Get the Aces and Twos up. They never help in the columns, so send them home as soon as they're free.
- Keep a place for the waste card. Before you turn the next card, think about where it could go.
- Don't fill an empty column with a single low card unless it frees something important. A King or a long run is often a better tenant.
- Use Undo to explore. Try a line of play, and if it goes nowhere, take it back. It costs nothing.
Questions
Can every game be won?
No, Forty Thieves is famously hard. Both Wikipedia and Pretty Good Solitaire put the odds at about one game in ten,
and luck in the stock plays a big part. Josephine is much easier.
Why is it called Forty Thieves?
Nobody knows for sure. The forty cards dealt into the columns may suggest the forty thieves of Ali Baba's tale. The
game is also called Napoleon at St. Helena: the earliest known record, an 1870 book of card games published in Boston,
calls it a favorite of Napoleon during his exile on St. Helena. American books named it Forty Thieves and Big Forty in
the 1920s.
How is Josephine different?
Josephine is Forty Thieves with one change: a run of cards of one suit can move as a unit, so you don't need empty
columns to move it. It's said to be named after Joséphine, Napoleon's first wife.
Is it free? Do I need an account?
Yes, it's free, and there's nothing to download or sign up for. Your current game and your statistics are saved in this browser on this device.
What happens if I close the page?
Your game is saved after every move. Open the page again in the same browser and you'll pick up where you left off.
Can I play offline?
Yes. After your first visit the game works without an internet connection. On a phone, add it to your home screen to open it like an app.