Rules
Pyramid Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use one standard 52-card deck.
- Deal 28 cards face up in a seven-row pyramid.
- A pyramid card is playable only when no card overlaps it from the row below.
- Remove two available cards when their values add to 13.
- Kings count as 13 and can be removed alone.
- Aces count as 1, jacks as 11, queens as 12, and number cards use face value.
- Draw one card at a time from the stock to the waste.
- This site uses one stock pass with no redeals.
- Win by clearing every card from the pyramid.
How to play
How to play Pyramid Solitaire
Pyramid Solitaire is a value puzzle disguised as a card layout. The board begins as a triangle of 28 face-up cards. The bottom row is open. Cards above it are trapped until the two cards touching their lower corners have been removed.
Your job is to remove cards that total 13. A queen pairs with an ace, a jack with a 2, a 10 with a 3, a 9 with a 4, an 8 with a 5, and a 7 with a 6. Kings already equal 13, so they leave by themselves as soon as they are exposed.
Setup
The Pyramid Solitaire layout
- The pyramid has seven rows: 1 card, then 2, then 3, down to a base row of 7 cards.
- The 28 pyramid cards are face up, but most are blocked by the row below them.
- The remaining 24 cards form the face-down stock.
- Drawing from the stock puts one card on top of the waste pile.
- The removed pile is just a record of cleared cards; removed cards never come back into play.
- The only cards you can use are exposed pyramid cards and the top card of the waste.
Values
Pyramid Solitaire card values and pairs
Every move is built around 13. Number cards use their printed value. Aces are 1, jacks are 11, queens are 12, and kings are 13. Because a king already reaches the target, it is the only card that can be cleared without a partner.
Kingremoves alone
QueenAce
Jack2
103
94
85
76
This pairing table is worth learning because it makes the board easier to scan. Instead of reading every card separately, you start seeing locked relationships: every exposed queen is asking for an ace, every 10 is asking for a 3, and every 7 is looking for a 6.
Blocked cards
What counts as uncovered?
The pyramid shape matters because most cards are not available yet. A card is uncovered only when both positions directly below it are empty. Removing just one of its lower supports is not enough; the second support still pins it in place.
That is why a pair in the bottom row can be more valuable than a pair involving the waste. If it opens two new cards, it changes the whole next turn instead of simply spending a card you already had access to.
Example: if a 9 sits above a 5 and a jack, that 9 cannot be paired with an exposed 4 yet. Both lower cards have to leave first. Once the 5 and jack are gone, the 9 becomes a real card you can use.
Stock
The stock rule on this page
This version uses a simple one-card waste with one pass through the stock. Tap the stock to turn one card onto the waste. The top waste card can pair with any exposed pyramid card, and a king on top of the waste can be removed alone.
There are no redeals here. Once the 24 stock cards have been drawn, the remaining exposed pyramid cards and the top waste card are all you have left to work with.
Some Pyramid Solitaire sites allow three passes through the stock. We chose one pass for this first version because it makes each draw meaningful and keeps the rules easy to read at a glance. If we add a multi-pass variant later, it should be labeled as a different mode rather than silently changing this page.
Turns
What a legal move looks like
A legal move removes either one king or two available cards totaling 13. Available means exposed in the pyramid or sitting on top of the waste. A queen in the pyramid can pair with an ace on the waste. A 6 in the bottom row can pair with an exposed 7 elsewhere in the pyramid. A buried 6, however, is not available even if the perfect 7 is showing.
Empty spaces are not storage spaces. You do not slide cards around, build sequences, or fill gaps with kings. Pyramid is a removal game: when a card leaves, it simply reveals what was pinned above it.
Strategy
Pyramid Solitaire strategy that actually matters
The tempting move is the obvious pair. The better move is usually the pair that uncovers something. When two removals are available, look at what each one releases. Opening a card in the fifth or sixth row often matters more than clearing a loose bottom-row pair that leaves the pyramid shape unchanged.
Try not to burn flexible cards too early. Sixes and sevens pair with each other, while fives and eights, fours and nines, and threes and tens often become rescue pairs later. If a card value appears several times in exposed positions, clear the copy that opens the most buried material first.
Center cards are often more urgent than edge cards. The middle of the pyramid tends to hold more cards hostage, so opening one central position can reveal two or three future choices. Edge removals are still useful, especially when they free a king or complete a scarce pair, but they usually change less of the board.
Watch duplicate partners. If two exposed queens need an ace and you can see only one ace, spend that ace on the queen that exposes more cards. If a pair does not uncover anything, it may be worth waiting until you know whether the stock creates a better use for one of those values.
Mistakes
Common Pyramid Solitaire mistakes
- Removing a waste pair when a pyramid-only pair would uncover a blocked card.
- Forgetting that kings do not need a partner.
- Clearing edge cards while the center of the pyramid stays locked.
- Drawing too quickly instead of checking every exposed pair first.
- Using a rare matching value from the waste when the pyramid already has a duplicate available.
Winnability
Is Pyramid Solitaire winnable?
Not every deal is winnable. Some shuffles hide critical partners under the exact cards that need them, and a one-pass stock gives you less room to wait for perfect timing. That does not make the game random noise. The skill is in choosing which removals create new choices before the stock becomes your only source of movement.
A good Pyramid win usually feels like opening a lock from the bottom upward: small pairs break the base, new ranks appear in the middle, a king clears a jam, and suddenly the top card is no longer protected.
Scoring
How Pyramid Solitaire is scored here
This page keeps scoring simple: clear all 28 pyramid cards to win. Moves count every draw and every removal, so a lower move total usually means you used the stock efficiently. If a deal gets stuck, the most useful result is how many pyramid cards remain.
We are not claiming a fixed win percentage yet because this site should measure its own deals before publishing a number. Once enough games are played, the right statistic to show would be specific to this exact one-pass version, not borrowed from a three-pass or winnable-only rule set.
Variants
Pyramid Solitaire variants and house rules
The biggest Pyramid rule difference is the stock. One-pass Pyramid is stricter and faster. Three-pass Pyramid gives the player more chances to use buried waste cards. Unlimited redeals make the stock more forgiving, but they also soften the pressure that gives Pyramid its bite.
Other variants change the shape or deck count. Double Pyramid uses two decks and a larger pyramid. TriPeaks looks related because it is also built from peaks of cards, but it plays more like Golf: you clear cards one rank above or below the waste instead of making pairs that total 13.
Nearby games
How Pyramid compares with Golf, TriPeaks, and Aces Up
Pyramid is slower and more spatial than Golf Solitaire. Golf asks whether a card is one rank away from the waste; Pyramid asks whether two visible cards are worth spending because their removal changes the structure underneath. TriPeaks shares the feeling of opening a shape from the bottom, but it uses up-or-down waste runs rather than pairs that total 13.
Compared with Aces Up, Pyramid gives you more visible information at the start, but it also blocks that information more deliberately. You can see the card you want. You simply may not be allowed to touch it yet.