Forty Thieves Solitaire 🃏

Introduction

Forty Thieves is a classic two-deck solitaire known for being both challenging and fun 😊. In this game, you use two standard 52-card decks (104 cards total) to build eight foundation piles, one for each suit, from Ace up to King. The name “Forty Thieves” comes from the initial deal of 40 cards to the tableau – picture them as forty little “thieves” trying to block you from victory. (Legend even ties the game to Napoleon Bonaparte in exile – more on that later!)

This game is famously tough – it’s no casual Klondike! Only a small fraction of games end in a win. But that’s what makes it addictive: careful strategy and a bit of luck are needed to beat the forty “thieves” 😅. Many players call it “Napoleon at St. Helena” or “Le Cadran” (a nod to its possible French roots). Whether you’re a solitaire pro or just getting started, Forty Thieves offers deep, easygoing fun. Grab a virtual snack, sit back, and enjoy the challenge 🏆🂡.

How to Play

Forty Thieves starts by dealing 40 cards face-up into a tableau of ten columns (each column has four cards). These are the 40 thieves lurking on the board. Above the tableau you leave room for eight foundation piles (two for each suit) – your goal is to fill all eight foundations from Ace through King. The remaining 64 cards form the stock pile on the side. In the layout above, you can see the ten columns of four cards each and the empty foundation spaces (often shown as blank spots). Think of it like building eight mini-stacks of cards: each suit needs its own stack from Ace up to King.

Once the cards are dealt, you play by moving cards one at a time to build sequences. Only the top card in each column is “uncovered” and available to play. You build downward by suit, meaning you can place a card onto another card that is one rank higher but the same suit (for example, the 7♥ can be placed on the 8♥). You cannot move a partial sequence – only the single top card moves at a time. If you empty a column, you may fill the empty space with any card. This gives you freedom to reorganize the tableau as you work to expose buried cards. The image above highlights these rules: build down by suit, move only one card, and you can put any card into an empty column.

When you have no more immediate moves on the tableau, draw from the stock pile. Flip the top card of the stock to the waste pile, and you may play that waste card to either a foundation or onto a tableau column as normal. You only go through the stock once (in the standard version), so use each draw carefully. Continue moving cards between columns and to the foundations, uncovering new cards as you go. The objective is to transfer all cards to the foundation piles: build each foundation up by suit from Ace to King. When all eight foundations are complete, you’ve beaten the forty thieves and won the game 🎉.

History of the Game

Forty Thieves has been around for a long time – it first appeared in print in the late 1800s. An English writer named Annie Henshaw mentioned the game around 1870, calling it a “most excellent game” and noting its charming link to Napoleon at St. Helena. A few years later, Lady Adelaide Cadogan (in her 1874 book) called the game Le Cadran, hinting at a French origin. In other words, the exact creator is unknown; it likely evolved in Europe and became popular enough to be included in many 19th-century solitaire collections.

The Napoleonic legend grew from these early mentions. It’s often said that Napoleon Bonaparte himself played this patience game during his exile on St. Helena. In reality, historians aren’t sure if the ex-Emperor ever played this particular solitaire or if the story just made a good tale. Solitaire expert David Parlett even suggests the Napoleon story may be overblown. Either way, the colorful lore stuck: people still affectionately call the game “Napoleon at St. Helena” and imagine Napoleon secretly beating the odds at cards.

By the 1920s and 1930s, Forty Thieves had crossed the Atlantic. American sources started calling it Big Forty or simply Forty Thieves, and in 1939 the whimsical name “Roosevelt at San Juan” appeared in print. The game’s core rules stayed mostly the same, so it continued to turn up in solitaire books around the world. Solitaire fans today enjoy it just like they did over a century ago. In fact, Forty Thieves has seen a renaissance online – many players have discovered it via websites and apps, giving this old classic a brand-new audience. It remains one of the most popular two-deck solitaires out there, a challenging but rewarding patience game.

Variations

There are several fun twists on the classic Forty Thieves rules. One popular variant is Diplomat: this game still uses two decks, but you start with eight tableau columns of four cards each (arranged in two blocks of four rows). The key difference is that in Diplomat you can build down regardless of suit rather than matching suits, so it’s a bit more forgiving. In other respects it plays like Forty Thieves (one card moves at a time, same foundation goal). You can try Diplomat yourself at solitairex here: solitairex.io/diplomat 🎩🃏.

Besides Diplomat, there are other Forty Thieves “cousins” out there. For example, games like Congress or Parliament are also two-deck solitaires in the same family (they use eight columns and have similar rules). Some variations deal the Aces up front, allow multiple moves, or change how the stock works. To explore all these variations, check out the Forty Thieves section on solitairex: solitairex.io/free-games/forty-thieves. There you’ll find Diplomat and many other Forty Thieves-style games with their own twists and themes 🎲✨. Whether you stick to the original or try a variant, the Forty Thieves family has plenty of strategic fun for any solitaire fan.

Sources: Based on historical card game references and expert solitaire guides.