demos/forty/readme.txt

   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