Free Forty Thieves Solitaire Online
Forty Thieves is a tough two-deck solitaire game: ten columns of four cards, eight foundations, and a stock you can turn over only once. Solitaire Play offers Forty Thieves in your browser for free, with Hint, Undo and a daily challenge, and no download or sign-up.
Official Rules & Scoring
The goal is to move all 104 cards to the eight foundations, each built up in suit from Ace to King. Two 52-card decks are used. Forty cards are dealt face up into ten columns of four, and the other 64 cards form the stock.
- Columns: build downward in the same suit, so a card goes only on the next-higher card of its own suit (a Queen of hearts on a King of hearts). Only the bottom card of a column can be moved, and only one card at a time.
- Empty columns: any single card can be placed into an empty column.
- Foundations: there are two foundations for each suit. Start each with an Ace and build up in suit to the King.
- Stock: tap the stock to turn one card onto the waste pile. The top waste card can be played to a foundation or a column. You can go through the stock only once; there is no redeal.
- Winning: you win when all 104 cards are on the foundations. If the stock is empty and no move is left, the deal is lost.
Strategy & Tips
- Study the columns before the stock. all 40 starting cards are face up, so look for the Aces and low cards that are buried and plan how to dig them out.
- Build in suit and avoid burying low cards. a high card sitting on top of a lower card is in the way of that card; do not cover the cards you need next.
- Make an empty column early. an empty column is the most valuable thing on the table, because it can hold any single card while you reach what is underneath.
- Turn the stock last. every stock card is a one-time chance, so make all useful column moves before you turn the next one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can every Forty Thieves deal be won?
No, and in the standard game only about 10% of deals are won even by good players. New games and the daily challenge here only use deals that our solver has proved winnable: in our screening, the solver found a full winning line within its search limit for about 9% of 12,000 random deals, and each line was replayed move by move. Winnable does not mean easy, because the solver sees the whole stock and you do not. The deal library is fairly small, so you may meet the same deal again.
Can I move more than one card at a time?
No. Only the bottom card of a column can be moved, one card at a time. Even a run in suit has to be taken apart card by card.
Can I redeal the stock?
No. The stock is turned over once, one card at a time. When it is empty you can only use the cards already on the table and on the waste.
Why do some cards go to the foundations automatically?
Aces, twos and any card that no other card can still need as a base move to the foundation by themselves, because keeping them on the table can never help. Everything else is your choice.
Where are the other solitaire games?
Klondike is on the home page, and FreeCell, Spider, Pyramid, TriPeaks, Golf and Yukon have their own pages.
Want to play better? Read our Forty Thieves strategy guide.