How to play Fortune's Favor
Goal - Move all the cards to the Foundation
Decks
- A standard deck (52 cards)
Redeals
- No
Foundation
- Foundation starts with Aces
- Built up by suit from Ace to King
- The top card of each pile is available for move
Tableau
- Built down by suit
- The top card of each pile is available for move
- An empty pile is automatically filled with a card from the Waste or Stock
Stock
- Press to turn over 1 card from the Stock to the Waste
Waste
- The top card of each pile is available for move
Strategy & tips
- Empty columns are everything. With no group moves and no redeals, an empty column is your only real maneuvering tool. Don't fill it with a King unless that King opens a long playable suite or unblocks a critical buried card.
- Don't bury low ranks. A 3♠ trapped under 8 cards is often a lost game, because the 4♠ can't reach the foundation until the 3♠ is dug out — and digging requires moves you can't afford. Promote Aces and 2s relentlessly when available.
- Watch the stock. The stock is dealt once with no redeal — every card that goes to the waste must either play immediately or be playable when uncovered. Track which Aces and 2s remain so you don't accidentally bury them.
- Don't promote middle ranks too eagerly. A 7♠ on the foundation might lock out a 6♠ that the next-deck 7♠ would have used as a bridge. Forty Thieves has 8 cards per rank per suit — promotion order matters more than in single-deck games.
- Try Josephine or Forty and Eight first. The Forty Thieves family has many named relaxations: Josephine allows group moves of properly sequenced cards, Forty and Eight adds a redeal, Miss Milligan changes tableau geometry. Pick the relaxation that fits how you want to learn, then graduate to classic.