| 1 | Forty Thieves is a patience game played with two full packs of |
| 2 | cards. At the start of the game forty cards are dealt on the |
| 3 | eight 'bases' along the top of the window. The object of the |
| 4 | game is to place all the cards onto the eight 'foundations'. The |
| 5 | foundations are built starting with the ace and adding cards of |
| 6 | the same suit up to the king. Cards are dealt from the pack and |
| 7 | placed on the discard pile. Cards may be moved from the discard |
| 8 | pile or one of the bases to a base or a foundation. Only one |
| 9 | card can be moved at a time. Cards can only be placed on a base |
| 10 | if the top card of the base is of the same suit and is one |
| 11 | higher in pip value or the base is empty e.g. the eight of |
| 12 | spades can only be placed on top of the nine of spades. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | When the mouse cursor is over a card which can be moved it |
| 15 | changes to the 'hand' cursor. The card can then be moved by |
| 16 | double clicking the left button. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | The mouse cursor also changes to a hand when a card is dragged |
| 19 | by placing the cursor over the card and holding down the left |
| 20 | button. This feature can be enabled and disabled by selecting |
| 21 | the 'Helping hand' option from the Edit menu. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | The 'foundations' are the eight piles of cards down the left |
| 24 | side of the window. When the game starts these piles are empty. |
| 25 | The object of the game is to place all the cards on the |
| 26 | foundations. An ace can be placed on any empty foundation. Other |
| 27 | cards can only be placed on a foundation if the top card is of |
| 28 | the same suit and is one lower in pip value e.g. the three of |
| 29 | clubs can be placed on the four of clubs. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | The 'bases' are the ten piles of cards along the top of the |
| 32 | window. At the start of the game four cards are dealt face up on |
| 33 | each of the bases. A card can be added to a base if the base is |
| 34 | empty or if the top card is of the same suit and is one higher |
| 35 | in pip value e.g. the queen of hearts can be placed on the king |
| 36 | of hearts The top card of a base can be moved onto another base |
| 37 | or a foundation. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | Cards can be only moved one at a time. The top card of the pack |
| 40 | can be dealt onto discard pile by placing the mouse cursor over |
| 41 | the pack and pressing the left button. The number of cards |
| 42 | remaining is displayed to the right of the pack. |
| 43 | |
| 44 | Cards can be moved from the discard pile or the bases either by |
| 45 | 'double-clicking' or by dragging. If the left button is |
| 46 | double-clicked when the mouse cursor is over a card and it can |
| 47 | move to another pile, it will do so. This is a quick way of |
| 48 | moving cards when their destination is unambiguous. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | A card can be dragged by placing the mouse cursor over the card |
| 51 | and holding down the left button. The card will follow the mouse |
| 52 | cursor until the left button is released. If the card is over a |
| 53 | pile on which it can be placed it will be added to that pile, |
| 54 | otherwise it will be returned to the pile from which it was |
| 55 | dragged. |
| 56 | |
| 57 | One point is scored for every card that is placed on a |
| 58 | foundation. Since there are two packs of 52 cards the maximum |
| 59 | score is 104. A record is kept of the number of games played, |
| 60 | the number of games won, the current score and the average |
| 61 | score. This information is displayed at bottom right of the |
| 62 | window and is stored on disk between games. A game is deemed to |
| 63 | have started if the cards have been dealt and any card has been |
| 64 | moved. If the game is abandoned before it is finished (i.e. by |
| 65 | starting a new game or closing window) it counts as a lost game. |
| 66 | New players can be added by selecting the 'Player' option from |
| 67 | the Game menu. A summary of players' scores can be displayed by |
| 68 | selecting the 'Scores...' option from the Game menu. |
| 69 | |
| 70 | All moves are recorded and can be undone. To undo a move select |
| 71 | the undo menu item from the Edit menu. A quicker way of undoing |
| 72 | is to press the right mouse button (it doesn't matter where the |
| 73 | mouse cursor is). Right button undo can be enabled and disabled |
| 74 | by selecting the 'Right button undo' option from the Edit menu. |
| 75 | Pressing the right mouse button with the control key pressed |
| 76 | re-does a previously undone move. |
| 77 | |
| 78 | An empty base or two is very useful as it gives the opportunity |
| 79 | to unscramble other bases. Try not to build onto kings which |
| 80 | obscure valuable cards as it will be difficult to get to them |
| 81 | later. The undo facility is very useful for going back and using |
| 82 | 'hindsight'. |
| 83 | |
| 84 | Don't be put off if you can't win every game. I reckon winning 1 |
| 85 | in 10 is pretty good (winning 1 in 3 is excellent). |
| 86 | |