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- Forty Thieves is a patience game played with two full packs of
- cards. At the start of the game forty cards are dealt on the
- eight 'bases' along the top of the window. The object of the
- game is to place all the cards onto the eight 'foundations'. The
- foundations are built starting with the ace and adding cards of
- the same suit up to the king. Cards are dealt from the pack and
- placed on the discard pile. Cards may be moved from the discard
- pile or one of the bases to a base or a foundation. Only one
- card can be moved at a time. Cards can only be placed on a base
- if the top card of the base is of the same suit and is one
- higher in pip value or the base is empty e.g. the eight of
- spades can only be placed on top of the nine of spades.
- When the mouse cursor is over a card which can be moved it
- changes to the 'hand' cursor. The card can then be moved by
- double clicking the left button.
- The mouse cursor also changes to a hand when a card is dragged
- by placing the cursor over the card and holding down the left
- button. This feature can be enabled and disabled by selecting
- the 'Helping hand' option from the Edit menu.
- The 'foundations' are the eight piles of cards down the left
- side of the window. When the game starts these piles are empty.
- The object of the game is to place all the cards on the
- foundations. An ace can be placed on any empty foundation. Other
- cards can only be placed on a foundation if the top card is of
- the same suit and is one lower in pip value e.g. the three of
- clubs can be placed on the four of clubs.
- The 'bases' are the ten piles of cards along the top of the
- window. At the start of the game four cards are dealt face up on
- each of the bases. A card can be added to a base if the base is
- empty or if the top card is of the same suit and is one higher
- in pip value e.g. the queen of hearts can be placed on the king
- of hearts The top card of a base can be moved onto another base
- or a foundation.
- Cards can be only moved one at a time. The top card of the pack
- can be dealt onto discard pile by placing the mouse cursor over
- the pack and pressing the left button. The number of cards
- remaining is displayed to the right of the pack.
- Cards can be moved from the discard pile or the bases either by
- 'double-clicking' or by dragging. If the left button is
- double-clicked when the mouse cursor is over a card and it can
- move to another pile, it will do so. This is a quick way of
- moving cards when their destination is unambiguous.
- A card can be dragged by placing the mouse cursor over the card
- and holding down the left button. The card will follow the mouse
- cursor until the left button is released. If the card is over a
- pile on which it can be placed it will be added to that pile,
- otherwise it will be returned to the pile from which it was
- dragged.
- One point is scored for every card that is placed on a
- foundation. Since there are two packs of 52 cards the maximum
- score is 104. A record is kept of the number of games played,
- the number of games won, the current score and the average
- score. This information is displayed at bottom right of the
- window and is stored on disk between games. A game is deemed to
- have started if the cards have been dealt and any card has been
- moved. If the game is abandoned before it is finished (i.e. by
- starting a new game or closing window) it counts as a lost game.
- New players can be added by selecting the 'Player' option from
- the Game menu. A summary of players' scores can be displayed by
- selecting the 'Scores...' option from the Game menu.
- All moves are recorded and can be undone. To undo a move select
- the undo menu item from the Edit menu. A quicker way of undoing
- is to press the right mouse button (it doesn't matter where the
- mouse cursor is). Right button undo can be enabled and disabled
- by selecting the 'Right button undo' option from the Edit menu.
- Pressing the right mouse button with the control key pressed
- re-does a previously undone move.
- An empty base or two is very useful as it gives the opportunity
- to unscramble other bases. Try not to build onto kings which
- obscure valuable cards as it will be difficult to get to them
- later. The undo facility is very useful for going back and using
- 'hindsight'.
- Don't be put off if you can't win every game. I reckon winning 1
- in 10 is pretty good (winning 1 in 3 is excellent).
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