How to play TriPeaks
TriPeaks is a fast, cheerful solitaire played on three overlapping peaks of cards. Only the bottom row starts face up; the rest turn over as you uncover them.
Play cards one rank above or below the waste card to build long runs. The longer the run, the more each card is worth.
Rules
- Twenty-eight cards make the three peaks (rows of 3, 6, 9 and 10). One card starts the waste and the other 23 stay in the stock.
- You may play any face-up peak card that is one higher or one lower than the top waste card, regardless of suit. Kings and Aces count as neighbours, so runs can wrap round.
- A card turns face up as soon as both cards covering it are gone.
- When nothing fits, click the stock to turn its next card onto the waste. That ends your current run. There is one pass through the stock.
- Scoring: the first card of a run scores 10, the second 20, the third 30 and so on. Taking a peak’s top card adds 250. Clearing all three peaks adds 1,000 plus 50 for every card still in the stock.
- The deal ends when the peaks are cleared or when the stock is empty and nothing plays. Undo is available, but a deal where you used it stays in your history only and is not posted to the online tops.
Controls
- Click / tap a card
- Play it onto the waste
- Click the deck / Space / D
- Turn the next stock card
- Tab, then Enter
- Play the focused card from the keyboard
- U / Ctrl+Z
- Undo (the deal no longer counts for the online tops)
- N
- New deal
Tips
- When you have a choice, look one step ahead: play the card that leaves another face-up card to follow it.
- Prefer cards that uncover face-down ones. A hidden card might extend the run; a card already visible will still be there later.
- Don’t turn the stock while any card still plays. A drawn card always ends the run, even if it would have fitted.
- Saving stock cards pays: if you can clear the peaks early, every card left in the stock is worth 50 points.
TriPeaks strategy
Runs grow faster than you think
Because the nth card of a run scores n × 10, a run’s value climbs steeply. Four cards make 100 points, eight make 360 and twelve make 780, while two runs of six make only 420. One long run beats two short ones every time. Before you start a run, trace the longest path through the face-up cards rather than playing the first card that fits.
Zigzag through the ranks
Every rank has exactly two neighbours, one up and one down, and King and Ace count as neighbours of each other. Long runs rarely go straight: 7, 8, 7, 6, 5 is typical. When you can go up or down, count the face-up cards waiting on each side and go the way that keeps more of them in play. Save a card that bridges two groups for the moment the run needs it.
Open the peaks from below
To reach a peak top you must remove the nine cards beneath it: four on the base, three above them and two above those. The middle peak shares a base card with each neighbour, so clearing either side also helps it. Each top taken adds 250, more than the first six cards of a run put together. When a run is about to end, check whether it can finish on a peak top.
Spend the stock with care
The stock holds 23 cards, and each one still there when the peaks are cleared is worth 50. A draw therefore costs 50 points, but only if you go on to clear the board. While a clear is still possible, play every card you can before drawing. Once the board is plainly stuck and a clear is out of reach, the stock bonus is gone anyway, and drawing to start new runs costs nothing extra.
About TriPeaks
TriPeaks was devised by Robert Hogue in 1989, a cousin of the much older patience game Golf, which also plays cards one up or one down onto a waste pile. It spread through Microsoft’s Windows Entertainment Pack collections in the early 1990s, and its three-peak layout and run-based scoring have been copied by countless apps since.
Our version plays a single deal per game with Ace–King wrapping on. The run scoring, peak bonuses and stock bonus are our own and are explained in full above.
Questions
How do you play TriPeaks?
Tap any face-up card that is one rank higher or lower than the card on the waste pile — suit doesn’t matter, and King and Ace connect. When nothing fits, draw from the stock. Clear all three peaks to win.
How is TriPeaks scored here?
Each card in an unbroken run is worth 10 points times its place in the run (10, 20, 30…). Each peak top is +250, clearing everything is +1,000, plus 50 for every card left in the stock. Drawing from the stock ends the run.
Can a King go on an Ace in TriPeaks?
Yes. Ranks wrap round, so a King can follow an Ace and an Ace can follow a King. That keeps long runs alive.
Why doesn’t my score count after using undo?
Undo can show you what was under a card or on top of the stock, which makes a points race unfair. You can still undo freely; the deal is saved in your own history, just not posted to the online tops.