Rules, Strategy, and Tips for Th

What Is Forty Thieves Solitaire?

Forty Thieves is one of the most challenging popular solitaire games, known for its punishing difficulty and deeply strategic gameplay. Also called Napoleon at St. Helena, Big Forty, or Roosevelt at San Juan, this two-deck game has a win rate of approximately 10% even with skilled play, making it a serious test of patience and strategic thinking.

The game earns its name from the initial deal of forty face-up cards across ten tableau columns. Unlike Klondike, where many cards start face-down, Forty Thieves reveals all tableau cards from the beginning. However, the strict in-suit building rule and the limitation of moving only one card at a time create a profoundly constrained game that demands careful planning.

The historical connection to Napoleon gives the game romantic appeal. Legend holds that Napoleon played this game during his exile, though the attribution is likely apocryphal. Regardless of its true origins, Forty Thieves has endured as a favorite among players who enjoy difficult solitaire games.

Complete Rules of Forty Thieves

Setup: Shuffle two standard 52-card decks together to create a 104-card deck. Deal forty cards face-up into ten tableau columns of four cards each. All forty cards are fully visible. The remaining 64 cards form a stock pile. Designate eight foundation spaces above the tableau, one for each suit (two per suit since two decks are used).

Objective: Move all 104 cards to the eight foundation piles. Each foundation is built by suit in ascending order from Ace to King. With two decks, there are two foundation piles for each suit.

Tableau Building: You may place the top card of a column on another column's top card if it is the same suit and one rank higher. This in-suit building rule is much more restrictive than Klondike's alternating-color rule. Only one card at a time may be moved, never sequences or groups.

Empty Columns: Any single card may be placed in an empty column. This is more flexible than Klondike and is crucial for maneuvering in this restrictive game.

Stock Pile: Draw one card at a time from the stock to a waste pile. The top card of the waste pile is available for play to the tableau or foundation. The stock can be passed through only once, with no recycling of the waste pile.

Foundation Building: Start each of the eight foundations with an Ace and build up in suit to King. You need to complete two foundations per suit.

Winning: All 104 cards are on the eight foundations, each containing Ace through King of a single suit.

Why Forty Thieves Is So Difficult

Understanding why Forty Thieves is so challenging helps you develop the mindset needed to win.

In-suit building severely limits moves. In Klondike, any red card can go on any black card of one rank higher, giving you two possible destinations per card in many situations. In Forty Thieves, a card can only go on one specific card, the same suit and one rank higher. This dramatically reduces your options at every turn.

One-card movement prevents reorganization. The inability to move sequences means you cannot rearrange columns by shifting groups of cards. Every card must be moved individually, requiring an empty column or foundation space for each intermediate move. Compare this to Yukon, where entire unordered groups can move freely.

Single stock pass creates urgency. With only one pass through the 64-card stock, every card drawn is precious. A card that passes through the waste without being played is effectively lost. This pressure makes stock management critical.

The sheer volume of cards demands planning. With 104 cards, the game is large and complex. Keeping track of which cards have been seen, which are still in the stock, and which are buried in the tableau is a significant mental challenge. The card counting techniques from our advanced guide are especially valuable here.

Winning Strategies for Forty Thieves

Despite the low win rate, strategic play significantly improves your odds. These strategies are tailored to Forty Thieves' unique constraints.

Create and maintain empty columns. Empty columns are your primary maneuvering tool. Since you can only move one card at a time, empty columns serve as temporary holding spaces that make complex moves possible. Work constantly to empty short columns and resist filling them without a clear plan.

Play Aces and low cards to the foundation aggressively. Getting Aces and Twos to the foundation early is even more critical than in Klondike. With eight foundations to build and in-suit building, every card on a foundation is one less card clogging the tableau.

Track cards from both decks. With two copies of every card, tracking which copies have been played or placed is essential. If both 5s of hearts are buried, you know neither will be available until the tableau is substantially rearranged. If one is on the foundation and the other is visible, you can plan around the second copy's location.

Manage the stock pile with extreme care. The single pass through the stock means every drawn card matters. Before each draw, ensure the current waste card has been played if possible. A waste pile that grows tall represents cards you may never access again.

Prioritize freeing blocked foundation cards. Identify which low-ranked cards are blocking progress on each foundation and focus your efforts on freeing them. A blocked 3 of diamonds means the entire diamond foundation stalls at the 2 level, and the cascade of consequences affects the whole game.

Common Forty Thieves Mistakes

The extreme difficulty of Forty Thieves makes certain mistakes especially costly.

Filling empty columns impulsively. An empty column is worth more than almost any other resource. Filling it without a specific, multi-step plan is usually a mistake. Keep columns empty as long as possible.

Ignoring stock pile management. Players accustomed to Klondike's unlimited stock passes often treat the stock carelessly. In Forty Thieves, once a card passes out of the waste without being played, you cannot get it back. Treat every stock draw as a significant decision.

Building tableau sequences too eagerly. Just because you can place the 5 of clubs on the 6 of clubs does not mean you should. If the 5 of clubs is currently the only card in its column, it is holding an empty column open, which may be more valuable than extending a sequence.

Neglecting foundation balance. With eight foundations, imbalances can develop quickly. If spades are at 7 but hearts are at 2, heart-suit cards are clogging the tableau and waste pile. Actively work to keep all foundations progressing.

For more error patterns across all solitaire games, read common solitaire mistakes to avoid.

Forty Thieves Variations

Several variations adjust Forty Thieves' difficulty, making it more or less accessible.

Streets: Allows building in alternating colors rather than in suit, dramatically reducing difficulty. Streets has a much higher win rate and serves as a good introduction to the Forty Thieves layout.

Limited: Restricts the tableau deal to three columns of twelve cards each (36 cards) instead of ten columns of four. The narrower tableau creates a different strategic challenge.

Lucas: Removes the Aces from the deck and places them on the foundations before dealing. This gives you a head start and slightly improves the win rate.

Maria: Allows building in alternating colors (like Klondike) rather than in suit, and uses a nine-column tableau. This is considerably easier than standard Forty Thieves.

Busy Aces: Similar to Forty Thieves but with two stock passes allowed instead of one. The second pass significantly increases the win rate.

Forty Thieves on Different Platforms

Forty Thieves is included in many comprehensive solitaire apps, though it is less universally available than Klondike, Spider, or FreeCell. The ten-column layout with two decks means it benefits from larger screens.

On Windows 11 and Windows 10, Forty Thieves is not included in the default Microsoft Solitaire Collection but is available through third-party solitaire apps. On Mac, several App Store solitaire collections include it. Mobile apps on iPhone and Android that feature extensive solitaire libraries typically include Forty Thieves.

For the best mobile experience, use landscape orientation and choose an app with clear card rendering. The ten-column layout with two decks produces columns that can get quite long, so an app with smooth scrolling is important.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why is Forty Thieves so hard?

Three factors combine to create extreme difficulty: in-suit building (only one valid destination per card), one-card-at-a-time movement (no sequence moves), and a single pass through the stock (no recycling). These constraints dramatically limit your options at every decision point.

Q: What is a good win rate for Forty Thieves?

A win rate of 5-10% is respectable for Forty Thieves. Even expert players rarely exceed 15%. The theoretical maximum with perfect play is approximately 10-15% of deals being winnable, making it one of the hardest popular solitaire games.

Q: Is Forty Thieves the same as Napoleon at St. Helena?

Yes. Forty Thieves is also known as Napoleon at St. Helena, Big Forty, and Roosevelt at San Juan. These are different names for the same game with identical rules.

Q: How many foundations does Forty Thieves have?

Eight. With two decks, each suit has two foundation piles. You need to complete all eight foundations, each built from Ace to King of a single suit, to win the game.

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💡 Variant Strategy Note (2026)

Each solitaire variation demands unique table space management. In column-heavy formats like Spider or Yukon, prioritize unlocking hidden columns early to act as temporary staging areas.