Forty Thieves

Forty Thieves is a challenging two-deck solitaire game (104 cards). Forty cards are dealt face-up into 10 tableau columns of 4 cards each. The remaining 64 cards form the stock pile, drawn one at a time to the waste pile. Eight foundation piles build up by suit from Ace to King. The key restriction is that only one card can be moved at a time — there are no multi-card moves. Tableau columns build down by the same suit (not alternating colors). Any card can be placed in an empty tableau column. The game is won when all eight foundations are complete. Forty Thieves has a very low win rate (around 10%), making it one of the most challenging solitaire variants.

• Creating empty tableau columns is the most important strategy — they serve as temporary storage for single cards.
• Move Aces and Twos to foundations immediately. Every card on a foundation is one less card blocking the tableau.
• Be very selective about which cards you move from the waste pile. Not every available move is a good one.
• Build same-suit sequences in the tableau to create organized columns that are easier to clear later.
• Plan several moves ahead. Since you can only move one card at a time, efficiency is critical.

No. Approximately 79% of Klondike Solitaire deals are winnable with perfect play. FreeCell has a near-perfect solvability rate of 99.999%, while Spider Solitaire 4-suit has a very low win rate of about 1-2%.

Standard Klondike, FreeCell, and most variants use one 52-card deck. Spider Solitaire and Forty Thieves use two decks (104 cards).

Solitaire originated in Northern Europe in the late 18th century, likely in Germany or Scandinavia. It was originally called 'Patience.' The Klondike variant became widely popular during the Gold Rush era in the late 1800s and reached mainstream audiences when Microsoft included it in Windows 3.0 in 1990.