Josephine Solitaire

Josephine Solitaire Objective

The goal of Josephine Solitaire is to build all eight foundation piles in ascending order by suit, starting with the ace and ending with the king.

Josephine Solitaire Setup

Josephine uses two standard decks of cards (104 cards total) and is separated into four main areas:

• Tableau: The tableau consists of ten columns of four face-up cards each. Arrange cards here in descending order by suit.
• Stockpile: The remaining 64 cards form the stockpile. You can flip cards one at a time into the waste pile, but you can only cycle through the stockpile once.
• Waste pile: The top waste pile card can be played into the tableau or a foundation pile.
• Foundation piles: Build eight foundation piles from ace to king by suit to win the game.

Josephine Solitaire Rules

This Solitaire game is an easier version of Forty Thieves because you can move entire suited sequences instead of just single cards.

• Sequence cards in descending order by suit. For example, 8♠, 7♠, 6♠. When moving single cards, you can only move the last card in a column.
• Build foundation piles from ace to king by suit, such as A♥, 2♥, 3♥, and so forth.
• Move same-suit sequences as a unit. For example, a 10♣, 9♣, 8♣, 7♣ can be moved onto a J♣.
• Cycle through the stockpile once. You can flip a card from the stockpile to the waste pile when you get stuck, but you can only go through the stockpile once, so use it with care.
• Fill empty columns with any card or sequence to free up moves and create flexibility.

Josephine Solitaire Strategies

Because you can only go through the stockpile once, it’s important to be strategic with your moves.

• Free aces early. If an ace is buried under a long stack, prioritize uncovering it so you can start building your foundation piles.
• Try to keep all four suits in play. Building sequences of each suit increases your chances of playing more cards and evenly progressing your foundation piles.
• Use empty columns strategically. Open columns are powerful tools for reorganizing messy stacks or freeing cards you need for the foundation piles. Moving a card or sequence into an empty column can help you access cards you need to further gameplay.
• Only use the stockpile when necessary. Only flip cards when you’ve exhausted tableau options, and play from the waste pile immediately whenever possible.

Once you’ve mastered Josephine Solitaire, you can play similar games like Forty Thieves or Forty and Eight on Solitaire Bliss for free!