cardgamerulesGOOD GAMES START HERE. SAME SUIT. ONE CARD AT A TIME.Forty Thieves Solitaire starts with forty cards in ten open columns and sixty-four in stock. Build down in suit, move exposed singles and make eight foundations from ace to king. This practice table uses one stock pass and no group moves—the stricter classic rules, explained step by step.
Select a face-up card, then a column heading or foundation. Scroll the table sideways on small screens.
Learn same-suit building, exposed single-card moves, the waste and duplicate foundations. Then try the full two-pack game with hints, undo and same-deal restart.
Two packs · One stock pass · Four prepared lessonsReplace this position with a new shuffled deal?
The goal is all 104 cards on eight same-suit foundations. Unlike easier variants, a complete sequence cannot travel as one group and the waste cannot be recycled.
See the single-card rule ↓Deal four face-up cards to each of ten columns. Keep the other sixty-four as stock.
Place an exposed card on the next higher card of the same suit, or in an empty column.
Use duplicate aces to start separate foundations, then build each suit through to king.
This page teaches the strict single-card, one-pass game. Easier versions that move sequences or recycle the stock have different odds and decisions.
Shuffle two standard packs together, removing jokers. Deal ten columns of four face-up cards, for forty tableau cards. The remaining sixty-four form a face-down stock. Leave a waste space and eight empty foundation spaces.
The two copies of each rank and suit are separate cards. The table tracks all 104, even when two visible cards look identical.
Only the exposed end card of a column may move. Put it on an exposed card exactly one rank higher in the same suit: an eight of hearts goes on a nine of hearts, not a nine of diamonds or spades.
Even a perfectly ordered same-suit sequence cannot move as a group in this version. Rearrange it through individual legal moves and available spaces. No rank wraps between ace and king.
An empty column can receive any exposed single tableau card or the exposed waste card. A king is not required. There is no separate reserve or free cell.
A space can help unbury a needed card, but moving a king into it may reduce future options. The practice table does not make these choices for you.
Draw a single stock card face up onto the waste whenever you choose. Only the waste top may play, to a legal tableau column or foundation. Playing it exposes the waste card below.
When the stock runs out, do not turn the waste over. This strict table allows no second pass. Drawing is optional when another move exists, and drawing again can cover a useful waste card.
Start any empty foundation with an exposed ace. Continue one rank up in the same suit to king. There are two separate foundations for each suit, so the second ace of spades starts another home rather than going onto the first ace.
Foundations are not brought back to the tableau at this table. Win by moving all 104 cards home. No automatic finish, clock or stored high score is used. Random deals are not checked for solvability.
Some digital versions allow correctly built sequences to move together, or recycle the stock. Neither option is enabled here. Those concessions change the game, so use their own instructions if you choose another version.
Reference starting points: Arkadium’s distinction between strict and easy modes and Cartamundi’s Forty Thieves rules. This table’s no-return foundation convention is stated explicitly. The wording, lessons and implementation are original.
Print the Forty Thieves Solitaire reference or save it as a PDF from your browser’s print window.
The aim: move all 104 cards to eight foundations.
No group moves and no stock recycling. Win with all 104 cards home. Hints do not guarantee a solution.
LEARN IT. DEAL IT. ENJOY IT. ♣The opening tableau contains forty cards: ten columns with four cards in each. The whole game still uses 104 cards from two packs.
Sixty-four after the opening forty are dealt. Draw one at a time onto the waste.
Not in this strict version. Only an exposed single card can move, even when a sequence is correctly ordered in one suit.
Suits matter. Build one rank down in the same suit. A red eight cannot join just any red nine.
No. The practice table uses one stock pass. Covered waste cards become available only after the cards above them are played.
Any exposed single tableau or waste card can fill it. A king is not required.
The game uses two packs. Each copy of the ace starts a separate foundation that builds to a king.
No. Random deals are not pre-checked for a solution. Undo, restart and hints help exploration; a hint is only a legal option.