Rules
Giza Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use one standard 52-card deck.
- Deal 28 cards face up into the usual seven-row pyramid.
- Deal the remaining 24 cards as eight reserve columns with three cards in each column.
- Only exposed cards can be removed.
- In the pyramid, a card is exposed only after both lower cards covering it are gone.
- In the reserve, only the front card of each column is exposed.
- Remove two exposed cards when their values add to 13.
- Kings count as 13 and are removed by themselves.
- Win by clearing all 52 cards from the pyramid and reserve.
How to play
How to play Giza Solitaire
Giza Solitaire is a Pyramid-family removal game. The familiar pyramid is still there, and the target number is still 13, but the stock has been replaced by a visible reserve. That one change makes the game feel more deliberate: you can see many future cards, but you can only use the front card of each reserve column.
Start by scanning the exposed cards. The bottom row of the pyramid is open, and the front card of each reserve column is open. Remove any king by itself. Remove any two exposed cards whose values add to 13. After a removal, check what changed before taking the next easy pair.
Layout
The Giza Solitaire layout
- The pyramid has seven rows: 1 card, then 2, then 3, down to a base row of 7.
- The reserve has eight columns of three face-up cards each.
- All 52 cards are visible from the start, but many are covered by layout rules.
- There is no stock pile, waste pile, redeal, foundation building, or empty-space filling.
- Removed cards leave the layout permanently.
Values
Giza Solitaire card values and pairs
The target is always 13. Aces count as 1, jacks count as 11, queens count as 12, and kings count as 13. Number cards use their printed value. Since a king already equals 13, an exposed king does not need a partner.
Kingremoves alone
QueenAce
Jack2
103
94
85
76
A strong Giza player starts to read the board in pairs rather than individual ranks. Every queen is waiting for an ace, every jack for a 2, every 10 for a 3, every 9 for a 4, every 8 for a 5, and every 7 for a 6.
Pyramid
What counts as exposed in the pyramid?
A pyramid card is exposed only when no cards overlap it from the row below. In practical terms, a middle card needs both of its lower supports cleared. Removing only one support is not enough.
This makes the lower center of the pyramid especially important. A central bottom-row pair can unlock two cards above it, and those new cards may unlock the entire middle of the pyramid. Edge removals can still be right, but they usually change fewer future positions.
Reserve
How the reserve columns work
Each reserve column is a small visible stack of three cards. Only the front card is playable. When it leaves, the card behind it becomes playable. If that one leaves, the back card becomes playable.
Reserve cards can pair with exposed pyramid cards or with other exposed reserve cards. A king at the front of a reserve column can be removed immediately. A king behind another reserve card is visible information, but it is not available yet.
Legal moves
Examples of legal and illegal Giza moves
A queen in the bottom row can pair with an exposed ace at the front of a reserve column. A 6 in one reserve column can pair with a 7 in another reserve column. An exposed king in the pyramid clears by itself. These are all legal because every card involved is exposed.
A queen buried in the pyramid cannot pair with an ace yet, even if the ace is exposed. A reserve 9 that sits behind a front reserve card cannot pair with an exposed 4. A 5 and a 9 cannot be removed because they total 14, not 13. Empty spaces do not accept cards.
After an illegal pair attempt on this board, the warning appears and the selection is cleared, so you can immediately choose a different exposed card. That matters in Giza because a wrong-looking pair often teaches you which value you should preserve.
Strategy
Giza Solitaire strategy that uses the reserve well
The reserve is not just a set of spare cards. It is a visible queue. Before removing a front reserve card, look at what it reveals. If the card behind it is a king, a scarce ace, or the exact partner for a blocked pyramid card, opening that column may be worth more than taking a different pair from the pyramid.
Prefer removals that expose cards in both areas. A pair that clears two front reserve cards can open two new choices. A pair that clears two bottom-row pyramid cards can unlock one or two cards above them. A pair that clears one reserve card and one pyramid card can be best of all when it opens a new reserve front while also breaking the pyramid structure.
Watch the partner supply. If the pyramid has two exposed queens and you see only one ace at the front of the reserve, spend that ace on the queen that opens the better position. If a needed partner is visible behind a reserve card, ask whether you can open that column before using a weaker substitute.
Kings are tempting because they are free, but even a free move should be read. Removing an exposed king from the pyramid is usually good because it opens the structure above it. Removing a front reserve king is also useful, especially when the card behind it is a flexible middle value such as 5, 6, 7, or 8.
Mistakes
Common Giza Solitaire mistakes
- Clearing the first visible pair without checking what each move reveals.
- Forgetting that only the front reserve card is playable.
- Using the only ace on a harmless queen while another queen blocks the pyramid center.
- Ignoring reserve columns with kings or scarce partners behind the front card.
- Treating empty spaces as if they can hold moved cards.
- Leaving the pyramid center closed while spending edge pairs that expose very little.
Winnability
Is Giza Solitaire winnable?
Not every Giza deal is winnable. The game gives you more visible information than one-pass Pyramid, but visibility is not the same as access. A perfect partner can sit behind the exact card that needs it, or the last exposed values can refuse to add to 13.
The skill is in turning visible information into access. Good play opens reserve columns at the right time, breaks the pyramid center early, and avoids spending a rare partner on a move that reveals nothing.
Scoring
How Giza Solitaire is scored here
This page keeps the score practical. Clearing all 52 cards wins. Moves count every removal, whether it is a single king or a two-card pair. If the deal gets stuck, the most useful result is how many cards remain and whether the blocked cards point to a better replay line.
We do not publish a fixed win rate for this version yet. Giza's odds should be measured from the exact deal and move rules used here, not borrowed from Pyramid or from another software version with different reserve behavior.
Variants
Giza, Pyramid, and common house-rule differences
Giza is commonly described as a Pyramid variant. The key difference is the reserve: Pyramid usually keeps the 24 non-pyramid cards in a stock and waste pile, while Giza deals those 24 cards into eight visible columns. That removes the draw timing of Pyramid and replaces it with a spatial question: which reserve front should you open next?
The site version here uses the strict, easy-to-read form: one deck, seven-row pyramid, eight reserve columns of three cards, exposed pairs totaling 13, kings alone, no redeal, no moving into empty spaces, and a full-layout win. If another version lets you clear only the pyramid, uses a stock, or allows extra reserve access, treat it as a house rule rather than the rule set on this page.
Nearby games
How Giza compares with Pyramid, TriPeaks, and Golf
Giza is closest to Pyramid because both games remove pairs that total 13. Giza is more open and more tactical: you can see the stock cards in advance, but you must work through them as reserve columns. Pyramid is more about draw timing. Giza is more about access timing.
TriPeaks also uses a shaped layout with covered cards, but the move rule is completely different: TriPeaks removes cards one rank above or below the waste. Golf is even leaner, with no pyramid and no pair math. If you like Giza's arithmetic, play Pyramid next. If you like the feeling of opening a layout, try TriPeaks.