Number Ten Solitaire
How to play Number Ten
Number Ten is a two-deck solitaire game of the Forty Thieves family in which ten piles of four, two face down under two face up, are built down in alternating colours and runs move together.
Ten piles of four with two cards face down in each, built down in alternating colours, where runs move together.
The goal of Number Ten
Move all 104 cards onto the eight foundations, two for each suit, each built up from the Ace to the King.
How to set up Number Ten
Two standard decks are shuffled together, 104 cards in all. Forty are dealt into ten piles of four, two face down under two face up, and the other 64 form the stock.
Number Ten rules
Piles build down in alternating colours, one rank at a time. A face-up card moves together with every card above it if they run down in alternating colours, however many there are. A face-down card turns face up once it is on top of its pile, and an empty pile takes any card or run.
Turn the stock onto the waste one card at a time, once through with no redeal. Only the top waste card is in play.
A card on a foundation never comes back into play.
Click a card to send it to its foundation, else onto the first pile it builds on, else into an empty pile; a card clicked in a pile takes the cards above it along. Drag a card or a run to choose yourself. With Autoplay off in Settings, only a drag moves a card.
How to win at Number Ten
You win when all 104 cards are home. With the stock and waste empty, no card face down and every pile in order, Auto complete, on by default in Settings, plays the rest for you. The game is stuck when no card can move and the rest of the stock brings up nothing that can.
Number Ten strategy tips
Each pile starts with two face-up cards, so half the dealt cards are in view, more than in Rank and File, Emperor or Deauville. Plan the opening from what you can see, and start with the piles whose face-up cards both have somewhere to go.
A run moves as one, however long it is, so a long run can be shifted in a single move to reach the card under it. An empty pile takes a whole run, which makes it the best place to set one aside.
The two face-up cards of a pile were dealt, not built, so they seldom form a run. Move the top one away first. After that, every card you add to the pile in order joins a run that can move as one.
Because a run moves whole, a long run is no burden in Number Ten the way a long pile is in Deauville. Build long runs freely, as long as each card keeps the colours alternating.
An empty pile is worth more here than in a game that moves single cards, because it takes a run of any length. Use it to lift a whole run off a pile with hidden cards, then move the run on again when a card it fits on turns up.
A pile showing a black Jack on a red Queen already holds a run of two and moves as one. A pile showing a red Five on a black Jack must lose the Five first.
Number Ten questions and answers
How do you play Number Ten solitaire?
Shuffle two decks together and deal ten piles of four, two cards face down under two face up, keeping the other 64 cards as the stock. Build the piles down in alternating colours, move runs as one, and go through the stock once, one card at a time. You win when all 104 cards are home.
Can you move more than one card at a time in Number Ten?
Yes. Any face-up card can move together with all the cards above it, as long as they run down in alternating colours. There is no limit on the length of the run, and an empty pile takes a run as readily as a single card.
What is the difference between Number Ten and Rank and File?
Only the deal. Number Ten deals two cards face down and two face up to each pile, where Rank and File deals three face down and one face up. Both build down in alternating colours, move runs as one and go through the stock once.
How many cards start face down in Number Ten?
Twenty, two at the bottom of each of the ten piles, so half of the forty dealt cards are hidden. A pile shows its first hidden card once both face-up cards above it have gone, which can be a single move when those two already form a run.
How is Number Ten different from Klondike?
Both build down in alternating colours, move runs whole and turn a face-down card once it reaches the top. Number Ten uses two decks and eight foundations, deals ten even piles of four, lets any card or run fill an empty pile rather than only a King, and goes through its stock once, where Klondike turns its waste back as often as you like.
Can every Number Ten deal be won?
Not necessarily. Searching up to a million positions per deal, the game's solver proved 30% of the Number Ten deals it tried winnable, so at least that share can be won. Rank and File, which deals three cards face down in each pile instead of two, proved 38%. With Winnable on, in the menu beside New deal, each board comes from a list of 500 proved deals. Hint asks the same solver for a winning line before it suggests a move.
Is there a daily Number Ten game?
Yes. Number Ten has a daily board, the same deal for everyone that day, dealt the way a Winnable board is. Log in to play it.