You’ve probably seen the layout before. It looks innocent enough on that digital green felt. Two decks of cards, ten columns of four cards each, and a massive pile of stock waiting to be flipped. But Forty Thieves green felt solitaire isn't your grandma’s Klondike. It’s a brutal, unforgiving exercise in mathematical probability and patience. Most people open the game, move a few cards around, get stuck within three minutes, and close the tab.
That’s because Forty Thieves is basically the "Dark Souls" of the casual card game world.
The win rate is abysmally low. We’re talking maybe 10% for an average player, and maybe up to 20% or 25% if you’re some kind of card-counting savant. It’s hard. It’s tedious. But when you actually clear those eight foundations? It’s a rush that standard solitaire just can't provide. Honestly, most digital versions, like those found on Green Felt or MobilityWare, keep people coming back specifically because the difficulty feels like a personal insult.
The Brutal Reality of Forty Thieves Green Felt Solitaire
The game goes by a few names—Big Forty, Napoleon at St. Helena, Roosevelt at San Juan—but the core mechanics remain the same. You are using 104 cards. Your goal is to build eight foundation piles from Ace to King by suit.
✨ Don't miss: Why Pokemon Sun and Moon Anime Episodes Still Divide the Fanbase Today
Here is where the frustration starts.
In Forty Thieves, you can only move one card at a time. If you have a sequence of 6-5-4 of Hearts in a column, you cannot pick them up as a group and move them onto a 7 of Hearts. You have to move the 4, then the 5, then the 6. This single rule is what kills most runs. It turns the tableau into a cramped, claustrophobic mess where one wrong move creates a permanent blockade.
Why the Green Felt version is the gold standard
The "Green Felt" site has become a bit of a cult classic for solitaire enthusiasts. It isn't flashy. There are no loot boxes or leveling systems. It’s just a clean, snappy interface that tracks your time and your moves against a global leaderboard.
People love it because it’s fast. In a game where you’re going to lose 90% of the time, you want the reset button to work instantly. You want to see that timer ticking. The competitive aspect of seeing that "User123" cleared the board in 4 minutes while you’re struggling at the 12-minute mark adds a layer of "just one more game" energy that's hard to shake.
How to Actually Win (Or at Least Not Lose Immediately)
If you play Forty Thieves like you play Klondike, you will lose. Every single time. In Klondike, you're looking for immediate gratification. In Forty Thieves, you have to look ten moves ahead.
Empty columns are your only currency. Basically, an empty column is a "free space" where you can park a card to reorganize a sequence. Without an empty column, you are effectively paralyzed. The biggest mistake beginners make is filling an empty column with a King just because they can. Don't do that. Keep it open until you absolutely need to use it to shift a sequence.
The Power of the Stock Pile
You only get to go through the stock pile once. This is the "One Pass" rule that makes the game so difficult. When you click that deck, the card goes to the waste pile, and if you can't use it, it’s buried.
Smart players treat the stock pile like a secondary puzzle. You don't just flip cards whenever you're bored. You flip them when you’ve exhausted every single possible move on the board. You need to know exactly which card you are looking for before you even click that deck. Are you looking for the 4 of Spades to free up a 5? If so, keep flipping until you find it. But if you see a card that could be useful but isn't necessary right now, sometimes it’s better to leave it if it means saving space for a critical foundation card.
Common Myths and Misconceptions
There’s a weird rumor that every game of Forty Thieves is winnable.
It’s not.
Statistical analysis of 104-card double-deck solitaire shows that a significant portion of deals are mathematically impossible from the jump. This is especially true in the "Strict" versions where you can't move sequences. If your Aces are buried at the bottom of ten-card deep columns, and the cards you need to uncover them are trapped behind Kings of the same suit, you’re done.
Another myth: "Always play your Aces immediately."
Actually, this one is mostly true, but there’s nuance. While getting Aces to the foundations is priority number one, sometimes holding a 2 or a 3 in the tableau can help you move other cards around before they get locked away in the foundation. Once a card is in the foundation, it’s gone. You can't pull it back down to help you clear a column.
The Psychological Hook of High-Difficulty Solitaire
Why do we do this to ourselves? Why play a game that is designed to make us lose?
According to game design experts like Jane McGonigal, humans are actually wired to enjoy "hard fun." There is a specific type of neurological reward that comes from overcoming a high-barrier task. When you play Forty Thieves green felt solitaire, you aren't just passing time. You’re engaging in a low-stakes battle of wits against a randomized deck.
📖 Related: RDR2 The Poisonous Trail Map 2: Why Everyone Gets Stuck at Face Rock
It’s meditative.
The repetition of shifting cards, the visual scan for patterns, and the quiet click of the digital cards creates a flow state. For many, the green felt background is a nostalgia trigger. It mimics the felt of a real card table, grounding the digital experience in something tactile and familiar. It's a "brain break" that actually requires your brain to work.
Variations that change the math
If Forty Thieves is too brutal, people often pivot to "Ali Baba" or "Red and Black."
- Ali Baba: Allows you to move sequences of cards. This drastically increases the win rate.
- Limited: Uses fewer columns and more cards in the stock.
- Lucas: All Aces are pulled out and placed in the foundations before the game starts. This is "Easy Mode."
But for the purists, these variations feel like cheating. There’s a certain prestige in the solitaire community associated with a high Forty Thieves win percentage. It’s the "Grandmaster" tier of the genre.
Tactical Insights for the Serious Player
If you want to improve your stats on Green Felt, you need to change your visual scanning technique. Stop looking at the cards you can move. Start looking at the cards that are blocking your progress.
- Scan the bottom of the columns. Which column has the fewest cards? Target that one for clearing first.
- Count your suits. If you see three Hearts in one column, you know that column is going to be a nightmare to clear because you can't move them as a group.
- Delay the stock. I've seen players burn through the entire stock in the first two minutes. This is a death sentence. The stock is your "emergency kit." Use it only when the tableau is completely locked.
The game is as much about what you don't do as what you do. Sometimes, the best move is to do nothing and wait for a better opportunity. It’s a lesson in restraint.
🔗 Read more: Why Grand Theft Auto V Online Gameplay Still Dominates After All These Years
Practical Next Steps for Your Next Game
Ready to actually beat the board? Here is how you should approach your next session on the green felt.
First, analyze the initial deal. Look at the ten cards facing you. If you don't see an Ace or a 2 within the first few layers, prepare for a long game. Identify your "low-hanging fruit"—the columns with only one or two cards blocking a critical card.
Second, prioritize column clearing over suit building. It sounds counterintuitive, but having one empty space is worth more than having five cards in a foundation pile. That empty space is your oxygen.
Third, track your mistakes. Most digital versions have an "undo" button. While some purists hate it, using it is actually a great way to learn. If you hit a dead end, undo five moves and see where you branched off into a trap. This builds the pattern recognition you need to win without the undo button later.
Stop treating it like a casual game. Treat it like a puzzle that wants you to fail. Once you respect the difficulty of Forty Thieves green felt solitaire, you'll start seeing the board differently. You'll stop moving cards just because they fit and start moving them because they serve a long-term strategy.
Go open a new game. Look at the columns. Don't touch the stock. Find the Ace. Clear a path. And for heaven's sake, keep those empty columns open as long as you possibly can. That’s how you win.
Actionable Insights:
- The 1-Pass Rule: Remember you only get one shot at the stock pile. Use it sparingly and only when the tableau is stagnant.
- Empty Column Priority: Never fill an empty column with a card unless it immediately allows you to uncover a buried Ace or King.
- Sequence Awareness: Since you can't move groups of cards, avoid building long sequences in the tableau unless you have the empty spots to "shuttle" them later.
- Foundation Strategy: Only move cards to the foundation if they aren't needed to assist in moving other cards within the tableau. Sometimes a 5 is more useful on the board than in the pile.