Play Rank and File Solitaire

About Rank and File

Screen shot of the game Rank and File from Pretty Good Solitaire.

Warning! - Pretty Good Solitaire may be addictive. We are not responsible for lost productivity, neglected spouses, children, or pets. We are not responsible for lost sleep because you stay up to play "just one more game".

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Rank and File is a classic variation of the solitaire game Forty Thieves.

Rank and File is a two deck game. At the start of the game 40 cards are dealt out in 10 piles of 4 cards each with only the top card of each pile face up and visible. The remaining cards form the stock and turned over one card at a time to a waste pile. When Aces appear in the play they are moved up to found the 8 foundation piles, which are built up in suit in the usual way. The game is won when all the cards are moved up to the foundations. The game is lost if you go through the entire stock pile without winning, as there is no redeal.

How to Play

Among the 40 card tableau, building is down by alternate color. Groups of cards may be moved as a unit if they are of descending sequence in alternating colors. Empty spaces can be filled by any card.

Rank and File is a simple game to play, and it usually can be won. An average player can win Rank and File 80% of the time, while a good player can win very nearly every time.

Rank and File is just one of several similar variations of Forty Thieves, most of which are easier than Forty Thieves itself. Other games that are very similar to Rank and File are Emperor and Number Ten.