How to play Forty Thieves
Forty Thieves uses two full decks. Forty cards go face up into ten piles of four - the thieves - and the remaining 64 become the stock. Eight foundations wait above, two for each suit, and they build up from ace to king.
- Move one card at a time, never a sequence.
- The tableau builds down in the same suit: the nine of hearts takes only the eight of hearts.
- An empty pile takes any card.
- Turn the stock one card at a time, and there is no redeal.
- Get all 104 cards home to win.
Click a card to pick it up and click where it should go, or drag it - both work. Auto sends everything that can go up, Hint finds a legal move, and Undo goes back as far as you like.
Why this one is genuinely hard
Most solitaires forgive you. This one does not, and the reason is that three restrictions stack on top of each other. Building in suit rather than by alternating colour roughly halves your legal moves. Moving one card at a time means a tidy run you have assembled is stuck where it sits. And a single pass through the stock means every card you turn without a plan may be buried for good. Somewhere around one deal in ten goes out. Losing is the normal outcome, not a sign you played badly.
Strategy that actually helps
- Empty a pile early, then guard it. Empty columns are the only manoeuvring room the game gives you, because you cannot relocate sequences. Pick whichever pile is closest to clearing and commit to it rather than making a little progress everywhere.
- Do not rush cards to the foundations. A seven still in the tableau catches sixes. Once it is home it is inert. Send cards up when they have stopped being useful or when you need the space, and try to keep the eight foundations climbing at a similar pace.
- Turn the stock deliberately. Before each turn, ask what you would do with the card if it were useless. Turning three cards while you think is how a winnable deal dies - there is no second pass.
- Watch for the second copy. With two decks, every card exists twice. If one nine of spades is buried hopelessly, the other may still be reachable - it changes which lines are worth attempting.
- Undo freely. Nothing is hidden in the tableau, so trying a line and reversing it is exploration rather than cheating. It is also the fastest way to learn which openings tend to die.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Forty Thieves solitaire?
Two decks are used. Forty cards are dealt face up into ten piles of four, and the other 64 form the stock. You may move one card at a time: onto another tableau pile if it is the same suit and exactly one rank lower, onto an empty pile, or up to a foundation. The eight foundations build up in suit from ace to king. Turn the stock one card at a time onto the waste - there is no redeal - and win by getting all 104 cards onto the foundations.
Why is Forty Thieves so hard?
Three rules compound. The tableau builds down in suit rather than by alternating colour, which cuts your legal moves dramatically. Only one card moves at a time, so a sequence you have carefully built cannot be relocated. And the stock passes exactly once - anything you bury in the waste in the wrong order is gone. Estimates put the win rate somewhere around one deal in ten, and that is with careful play.
Can I move several cards at once?
Not here. The strict classic rules move a single card, and this version enforces them. Some implementations let you drag a whole sequence if enough empty piles are free - that is a real variant, but it changes the difficulty of the game completely, so it is not the default.
Is there a redeal?
No. You go through the stock once, one card at a time. This is why experienced players hold back on turning cards: every card you turn without a plan is a card you may be burying under the waste for good.
What is the best opening strategy?
Empty a pile as early as you can - empty columns are the only real manoeuvring room in the game, since you cannot move sequences. Work on whichever pile is closest to clearing rather than spreading effort. And resist sending mid-rank cards to the foundations early: a seven left in the tableau still catches sixes, and once it is home it can never help you again.
Is Forty Thieves the same as Napoleon at St Helena?
Yes - the game goes by both names, plus Big Forty and Roosevelt at San Juan for close variants. The story that Napoleon played it in exile is almost certainly a Victorian invention, but the name stuck.
More solitaire games
For another two-deck game try Crescent, which is far kinder. If it is the in-suit building you enjoy, Spider is the natural next stop, and Beleaguered Castle offers the same one-card-at-a-time discipline with nothing hidden at all.