How to play Forty Thieves Solitaire

Ready to test your card skills and strategy? Forty Thieves Solitaire is one of the most challenging and popular patience games out there — and now it's more fun than ever! Whether you're a newcomer or a seasoned solitaire pro, this game will keep your brain buzzing and your fingers flipping.

To start playing, choose between two exciting difficulty levels: EASY or HARD.


Game Modes
EASY Mode: Ideal for casual players or anyone who wants to get the hang of the card game. Here, you can move a group of cards — as long as they're in the same suit and in descending order — as a single unit. For example, a group of K♥, Q♥, J♥, and 10♥ can all be moved together. Plus, if your stockpile runs out, you get a second chance to go through it again.
HARD Mode: Want the real deal? Want to be up in the ranks? In HARD mode, you follow the original guidelines of Forty Thieves: you can only move one card at a time, and once you've used up your stockpile, that's it — no do-overs. It's a true test of patience, planning, and card-handling skills.
No matter which mode, check out the Help section in the menu for a deep dive into the rules.


Rules of Play
Here's how Forty Thieves Solitaire works:

The game uses two full decks.
You'll see 10 columns, each with four cards face-up.
Your mission is to build eight foundation piles, one for each suit, starting from Ace and ascending to King.
In the tableau, you may only build downward in the same suit.
Only the top card can be moved — unless you're in EASY mode, where same-suit sequences can be moved together.
An empty column can only be filled with a King.
The remaining cards are in your stockpile; you draw one card at a time.
In EASY mode, the stockpile can be reshuffled and used again; in HARD mode, you only get one pass-through.
Every move should be made with thought — success does not depend just on luck!


Winning Strategies
Want to improve your score and actually win this challenging solitaire? Here are some smart tactics:

Focus on Foundations: Prioritize moving Aces as soon as possible. This opens up the tableau and gives you more options.
Clear Columns: Try to empty at least one column early in the game. An empty pile can be a significant advantage, allowing you to reposition Kings and organize your cards more effectively.
Use Same-Suit Sequences: Always build sequences in the same suit. Random stacks will only limit your movement later.
Think Before You Draw: Each stock draw is important, especially in HARD mode where you can only go through the deck once. Don't waste cards on moves that don't help your strategy.
Practice Makes Perfect: Try EASY mode to get comfortable with the game, the layout, and the rhythm of the play before tackling the HARD version.

Forty Thieves Rules and Tips
Forty Thieves solitaire is one of the more difficult solitaire games out there, even if you play correctly you'll only win about 10% of the games you play. This guide will help though, although you must always remember that any card game has an element of luck in it.

Forty Thieves Rules
Forty Thieves is played with two standard decks and has a fairly simple set of rules. To set-up, the cards are initially are dealt in 10 columns, four cards high, all face up. Those cards are, as you can imagine, the forty thieves. The remaining 64 cards are dealt one at a time, as and when you need them into a waste pile in which you can only use the top card. The goal of the game is to create 8 foundation piles in ascending order and in their corresponding suit from Ace to King.

You can only ever move a single card and when you move a card it must be in descending order and in the same suit. For example you can move a Queen of hearts only onto a King of hearts. This rule is why the game is so hard but simple to play! When a column is empty you can move any single card onto it to start it off. You can turn over a card from the remaining cards and put them into the waste pile one at a time whenever you want to or if you can't see a move. You can only go through the waste pile once as there is no redeal.

Tips
Empty columns are of course the most important element of this particular card game. The more empty columns the better, as they allow you to restack all the cards from one column to another column. The more empty columns, the better, as you can then move longer chains of cards together.
Try to play lower ranked cards first, as once a higher ranked chain of cards is created it gets much harder to move later on.
Always play from the cards in the layout first if you can rather than the waste pile. That waste pile will be waiting for you!
The key of forty thieves is of course the planning. Keep an eye open for which cards to move based on what will be opened up underneath.

The 40 Thieves card game is a classic solitaire-style game that challenges your strategy and patience. It is perfect for those who love to play cards. With engaging gameplay and simple rules, it’s perfect for anyone who enjoys traditional card games, with an upgrade. In this game, you aim to build eight foundation piles in ascending order by suit, using two decks of cards.

How to Play 40 Thieves Card Game
Let's look at the forty thieves game rules and gameplay.

Objective
The goal of the Forty Thieves solitaire game is to move all the cards to the foundation piles, arranged in ascending order from Ace to King, by suit. You start with two decks of cards, and you must strategically move cards between tableau piles to free up space and eventually build the foundation piles. The game ends when all cards are placed in the correct order or no more valid moves are available.

Forty Thieves Game Set Up
Firstly, shuffle two standard 52-card decks together. Ensure all cards are facing the same direction.

Next, create 10 columns called tableau piles on the playing surface. Each column should have 4 cards, all face-up cards overlapping slightly so that all cards are visible. This gives you a total of 40 cards in the tableau.

Next, leave space for 8 foundation piles above or below the tableau. These piles will be used to build sequences from Ace to King, all in the same suit.

The remaining cards from the stockpile are placed face down. There is also a discard pile (waste pile) next to the stockpile, which starts empty.

Available Moves and Play Area
You can move only the top card from each column in a tableau in the 40 Thieves card game.
Cards must be placed in descending order and of the same suit. For example, you can place 9♠ on 10♠.
You can only move one card at a time, and no sequences.
If a tableau pile is empty, you can place any card there.
You must start each pile with an Ace, and build up in ascending order by suit from Ace to King.
When you are stuck, draw one card at a time from the stockpile.
You can use these cards to play onto the tableau or foundations in the Forty Thieves game. But once the stockpile is empty, that’s it!
The drawn card goes into the waste pile.
You can play the top card from the waste pile onto the tableau or foundations if the move fits.
Rules of the Forty Thieves Game
To play Forty Thieves solitaire, here are the main rules you must be mindful of:

You play the game using two standard decks of cards, which makes it a total of 104 cards.
You begin by dealing 10 tableau columns, each with 4 cards placed face-up.
The remaining cards form the stockpile, which is placed face down and used throughout the game.
You must leave space for 8 foundation piles, where you will build sequences from Ace to King by suit.
In the tableau, you can only build cards in descending order and the same suit.
You are allowed to move only one card at a time, not entire sequences.
Only the top card of each tableau pile is available for moving.
You can place any single card into an empty tableau column to open up more moves.
In the Forty Thieves solitaire game, foundation piles must be built from Ace to King and must follow the same suit.
You may draw one card at a time from the stockpile and place it in the waste pile.
Only the top card of the waste pile is available for play on the tableau or foundation.
There are no re-deals allowed. So, once the stockpile is finished, you must play with what’s left on the table.
The Forty Thieves solitaire card game is won when all 104 cards are successfully moved to the foundation piles in order. You can then move on to a new game.
Strategy to Win 40 Thieves Card Game
Here are a few strategies to help you win the 40 Thieves Solitaire game.

In the Forty Thieves game, try to send Aces, Twos, and Threes early, as they are essential for building foundation piles.

Since Kings can only be moved to empty tableau columns or foundations, avoid letting them block important lower cards.

Empty columns increase your mobility. Use them to reposition cards and access buried ones, but avoid filling them without a clear purpose.

In the Forty Thieves Solitaire game, not every available move is beneficial. Sometimes, it's better to wait and see how the game unfolds before making a move.

Since there's no redeal, think twice before drawing from the stockpile. Unplayable cards can clog the waste pile and limit your options.

Before making a move, consider its consequences and how it will affect your ability to make future moves.

Always look for opportunities to move cards to the foundation piles in the Forty Thieves game, as this clears space in the tableau and brings you closer to winning.

Keep practising online and offline games to improve your strategy.

How to Play Forty Thieves
The goal of Forty Thieves Solitaire is to build all eight foundation piles from ace to king by suit. You do this by sequencing cards in the tableau and drawing from the stockpile.

Setup
The game uses two 52-card decks of standard playing cards and is made up of four different areas.

Forty Thieves Solitaire gameplay areas
The tableau houses 40 face-up cards (ten columns of four cards each). You sequence cards in the tableau in descending order by suit but can only move one card at a time. Only the last card in a tableau column is playable.
The stockpile holds 64 cards, and you flip cards from the stockpile to the waste pile when you get stuck. Face-up cards in the waste pile can be moved to the tableau or foundations.
The foundation piles are built from ace to king by suit. You must complete all eight to win.
Forty Thieves Solitaire Rules
While the tableau cards are face-up, allowing you to plan your moves, limited card movement and stockpile use makes Forty Thieves a challenging Solitaire game. Here are the rules:

Forty Thieves Solitaire rule examples
Sequence cards in descending order by suit. For example, a 3♠ can be moved on top of a 4♠.
Only move one card at a time, not sequences. Even if cards are sequenced in descending order by suit, you can’t move them as a group. So you wouldn’t be able to move the 4♠ and 3♠ onto a 5♠.
Only run through the stockpile once. You can’t flip the waste pile back into the stockpile and run through the cards again.
Move waste pile cards to the tableau or foundation piles. The top card can be played into the tableau or foundations as long as it follows the correct sequence.
Place any card in an empty column. Use empty columns to rearrange cards or place high ranking cards in them to build long sequences.
Build foundation piles ascending from ace to king by suit. Start each foundation pile with an ace and stack cards in order (A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K) to complete each pile.
Forty Thieves Solitaire Strategies
Forty Thieves is a difficult Solitaire card game, so use these strategies for better chances of winning.

Make a plan to move aces into the foundation piles. Identify where aces are in the tableau and make a plan to start building foundation piles. If you don’t do this early in the game, you’ll likely be blocked later.
Free up columns in the tableau. Since you can only move one card at a time, open columns are valuable for rearranging cards. It can be useful to leave multiple columns open, especially when you’re nearing the end of the game.
Don’t rush using waste pile cards at the beginning of the game. Since all cards are faceup, you know what you're working with in the tableau. For example, if you have one 10♥ at the bottom of a column and a 9♥ buried in the tableau, moving another 9♥ into the tableau likely isn’t beneficial because you can’t sequence both 9♥ onto the same 10♥. Moving cards from the waste pile to a tableau pile just because the move is available may clutter your board.
Focus on vacating the waste pile in the latter part of the game. Early on, it’s usually best to leave waste pile cards alone unless they create clear progress, since tableau space is limited. As the game progresses and you gain more room to maneuver, it becomes critical to start clearing the waste, especially if low ranking cards are buried. You can’t win if needed cards are stuck there.
Ready for more challenging games? We offer dozens of free card games online, from Classic Solitaire to Forty Thieves variations like Josephine.