How to play Pyramid Solitaire
Pyramid Solitaire is a patience game of simple sums. Twenty-eight cards are dealt face up in a seven-row pyramid, each row half covering the one above it, and the rest of the deck becomes the stock.
Take the pyramid apart by removing pairs of cards that add up to 13. Clear all 28 and the deal is yours — the faster, the better.
Rules
- Cards count at face value: Ace 1, numbers as printed, Jack 11, Queen 12. Kings count 13 and are removed on their own.
- A pyramid card can only be used once both cards below it are gone. Covered cards are shown faded.
- Click the stock to turn its top card onto the waste. The top waste card can pair with an uncovered pyramid card.
- When the stock runs out, turn the waste back over and go again. Classic allows three passes through the stock in all; Relaxed lets you go round as often as you like.
- You win when the pyramid is empty; cards left in the stock or waste don’t matter. If no pairs remain and the passes are used up, the deal is lost.
- Wins are ranked by time. Your win rate, fastest clear and streaks are kept separately for Classic and Relaxed.
Controls
- Click / tap a card
- Pick it; tap a second card to remove the pair. Kings go in one tap
- Click the deck / Space / D
- Turn the next stock card (or recycle the waste)
- Tab, then Enter
- Pick a card from the keyboard
- Esc
- Drop the current pick
- U / Ctrl+Z
- Undo
- N
- New deal
- R
- Switch between Classic and Relaxed
Tips
- Work the bottom rows from both ends. Freeing the two cards under a buried card matters more than clearing whatever is easiest.
- Before pairing a waste card with the pyramid, check whether that pyramid card is the only partner for something still buried.
- There are four of every rank. If three 6s are gone, the last 7 has only one possible partner — plan around it.
- On Classic, count your passes: on the last trip through the stock, take every useful pair you can.
Pyramid Solitaire strategy
Know the six pairs
There are only six pairings: Ace with Queen, 2 with Jack, 3 with 10, 4 with 9, 5 with 8 and 6 with 7. Kings go alone. So every Queen waits for an Ace and every Jack for a 2. A pyramid heavy in Queens, with most of the Aces still in the stock, will stall however well you play the rest. Scan for these imbalances at the start and work towards the scarce partners first.
A card can’t pair with its cover
A card is free only when both cards resting on it are gone, so it can never pair with either of them. If a 9 rests on a 4, one of the two needs a different partner. Look for these clashes early, especially in the upper rows. When a card’s only remaining partners all lie on top of it in the pyramid, it can only be removed with help from the stock.
The waste is a pile, not a bin
Pairing the top waste card brings back the card beneath it, and that card is free to play at once. A card you passed is not lost: clear what is on top of it and it returns. Pairing a pyramid card with the waste can set off a short chain down the pile. Two waste cards never pair with each other, though, so each one needs a partner from the pyramid unless it is a King.
Learn the stock on the first pass
Turning the waste back over keeps the stock in the same order, less whatever you removed. On Classic, treat the first pass as reconnaissance: take the obvious pairs, and note where the cards that would free your stuck pyramid cards sit. On the second and third passes you know what comes next, so you can hold a pyramid card for a partner a few draws away rather than spending it now.
About Pyramid Solitaire
Pyramid is an old patience game, played with real cards long before computers, and long treated as a quick, mostly luck-driven deal. It reached a wide audience through the solitaire collections bundled with home computers in the 1990s and 2000s.
This version keeps the traditional add-to-13 rule with kings removed alone, deals a fresh random deck each time, and offers two stock rules: a Classic limit of three passes and a Relaxed mode with no limit. Undo is unlimited, as in our Klondike.
Questions
How do you win Pyramid Solitaire?
Remove every card in the pyramid. Pair two uncovered cards that add up to 13 — or a single king — until the pyramid is empty. The stock and waste don’t need to be cleared.
Which cards can be removed in Pyramid?
Any card with nothing on top of it: the whole bottom row at the start, and any higher card once both cards below it are gone. The top card of the waste is also available. Covered cards are shown faded.
How many times can I go through the stock?
Three times in Classic, which is the common traditional limit. Relaxed lets you turn the waste over as often as you like. Press R to switch; each mode has its own stats and leaderboard.
Can every Pyramid deal be won?
No. Many deals can’t be won whatever you do, so winning a quarter to a third of Classic deals is a respectable record. Undo is there to explore, but a dead deal stays dead.