Pyramid Solitaire

How to play

1. How does a game of pyramid solitaire start?: The page opens on a dealt game: 28 face-up cards in seven rows from the peak down, one card in row 1 and seven in row 7, each card half-covered by the two cards below it. The other 24 cards sit face down in the stock. The seven cards of the bottom row are uncovered, so they glow and can be tapped straight away.
2. How do you remove cards in pyramid solitaire?: Tap a glowing card and every card that makes 13 with it lights up with a cyan ring; tap one of them and both fly to the discard pile. Aces count 1, Jacks 11, Queens 12 and Kings 13 — a King is 13 by itself and clears with one tap. If the pair doesn't make 13 the card shakes and the status line shows the sum.
3. When should you turn the stock?: When no pair on the pyramid adds up to 13, tap the stock to turn one card onto the waste pile. The top waste card can pair with any exposed pyramid card, or clear alone if it's a King. When the stock runs out, tap it again to turn the waste back over for the next pass — same order as before, three passes in all.
4. What if you get stuck?: Hint lights up a pair you can clear, or tells you to turn the stock. Undo is unlimited and free, and it steps back across draws and redeals. If a card's only partners are all buried underneath it, the page puts a lock on it and offers “Rewind to before it went wrong” to jump back to the move that caused it.
5. How do you win pyramid solitaire?: Clear all 28 cards of the pyramid; whatever is left in the stock or waste doesn't matter. There's no score: the results card shows your time, moves, undos, hints, cards left in the stock, level, deal number, and your win rate and streak for that level. If all three passes are used and nothing makes 13, the game is lost — undo a move and try another line.

Rules & variants

Pyramid solitaire uses one 52-card deck without jokers. Twenty-eight cards are dealt face up into a pyramid of seven rows — row r holds r cards, and each card is covered by the two cards next to each other in the row below. The remaining 24 cards form the face-down stock. The goal is to remove all 28 pyramid cards.

Card values: Ace = 1, 2 through 10 at face value, Jack = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13. Suits never matter. Two available cards whose values add up to exactly 13 are removed together — Ace + Queen, 2 + Jack, 3 + 10, 4 + 9, 5 + 8, 6 + 7 — and a King is 13 on its own, so it's removed alone. Value badges next to A, J, Q and K are on by default and can be turned off in Settings.

Which cards are available: only exposed pyramid cards and the top card of the waste pile. A card is exposed when both cards covering it have been removed, so at the start only the bottom row of seven is in play. Cards still in the stock, cards under the top of the waste, and covered pyramid cards can't be used; tap a covered card and the page tells you which two cards are on top of it.

Pairs that aren't allowed: a card can't pair with a card that is covering it, even if they make 13; stock cards can't be paired directly; and the top waste card can't pair with the card beneath it. The upside is one reading rule that never breaks — if a card glows you can tap it, and if it doesn't you can't.

Stock and passes: each tap on the stock turns its top card onto the waste. Once the stock is empty, tapping it turns the whole waste back over as a new stock, in exactly the same order as the pass before (cards you've removed don't come back). You get three passes in total, and “Pass N/3 · X left” is always shown under the stock.

Variations and house rules: other versions allow only one pass or unlimited passes, let covering cards pair, or require clearing the stock as well. This game sticks to the rules above — three passes keep the stock a resource worth planning around, no covering pairs keeps the glow honest, and clearing the pyramid is the win, as in most online versions. There are no rule switches, so a deal number always means exactly one game.

Why some cards can never be taken: if every remaining card of the value a card needs lies underneath it, inside the part of the pyramid it covers, it can never be paired — its partner can only be exposed after it's gone, and it can only go with its partner. That card is buried for good and the game can no longer be won. The page marks it with a lock straight away and offers a one-tap rewind to the move before it happened, counted as a single undo.

Levels and deal numbers: Easy and Standard deals come from a list checked by an offline solver as winnable, Easy being the easiest third; Random is an unverified shuffle. “Winnable” is worked out with the stock order known, which you can't see, so the page says “verified winnable” rather than promising a win. Every game has a deal number — copy the game link and a friend plays exactly the same cards.

Pyramid solitaire strategy: ① clear pairs that expose the most cards first, especially cards that cover two others; ② don't burn every partner of one value early — if two 6s are still in the pyramid, decide which 7 goes to which; ③ before each pair, check whether it buries the last partner of another card; ④ the top waste card is only available until you turn the next one, so use it while you can; ⑤ note the stock order on your first pass — later passes repeat it exactly.

Worked example: the bottom row is K♠ 6♥ 3♣ 7♦ 10♠ Q♥ 9♣ and the stock's top card is A♦. Tap K♠ and it clears alone. Tap 6♥ and only 7♦ lights up; tap it and both go, exposing the card above them. Q♥ then 9♣ is refused — Q(12) + 9 = 21, you need 13. Clear 3♣ with 10♠, turn the stock to get A♦, then tap Q♥ and the waste A♦ to clear another pair.

FAQ