Pyramid Solitaire

1 Overview

Pyramid Solitaire is a solitaire card game where the goal is to remove all 28 cards arranged in a 7-row pyramid by pairing cards that add up to 13. Kings (worth 13) are removed alone; all other cards must be paired with a card that brings their total to 13 (Queen+Ace, Jack+2, 10+3, 9+4, 8+5, 7+6). The remaining 24 cards form the stock.

Pyramid is one of the harder solitaire variants -- the win rate is relatively low. Its simple premise (pairs summing to 13) makes it immediately understandable, but the limited access to buried cards makes completion challenging and satisfying.

2 Setup

1. Deal 28 cards face-up in a 7-row triangular pyramid: 1 card in row 1, 2 in row 2, ... 7 in row 7. Each card in a lower row overlaps two cards in the row above.
2. A card is "uncovered" (available) when no cards below it overlap it.
3. Place the remaining 24 cards face-down as the stock.
4. Start with no waste pile.

3 Gameplay

1. Remove any pair of uncovered cards that sum to 13. Remove single Kings when uncovered.
2. After removing all possible pairs, flip the top stock card face-up to the waste pile. You can pair the waste top card with any uncovered tableau card summing to 13.
3. You can also pair two consecutive waste pile cards if they sum to 13 (house rule in some versions -- confirm before playing).
4. When stock is empty, you may optionally recycle the waste pile (flip it back) up to 2 more times (3 total passes through the stock in standard rules).

Win: Remove all 28 pyramid cards. Stock cards remaining don't matter -- clearing the pyramid wins.

4 Strategy

• Clear the apex first. The top card (row 1) is covered by the entire pyramid. Clearing a path to the top early opens major flexibility.
• Avoid burying needed cards. Before pairing two tableau cards, check if one of them is the only way to uncover a buried card you'll need later. Sometimes it's better to save a card even though you can pair it now.
• Track which ranks remain. If you've seen all the 6s and need a 7 (for a 6+7 pair), but haven't seen a 7 yet, it's in the stock. Plan your stock flips around missing card ranks.

5 Advanced Strategy

Count Available Pairs Before Flipping Stock

Before drawing from the stock, exhaust all available tableau pairs first. Playing two uncovered tableau cards removes two cards that no longer block anything below them, opening up new pairings. Drawing stock prematurely when pairs are available is one of the most common mistakes in Pyramid Solitaire.

The King Problem

Kings are removed individually, but they are worth 13 and block entire columns. There are 4 Kings in the deck. If 2 Kings are buried deep in the pyramid and the other 2 are in the stock, you need to clear down to the buried Kings before running out of stock passes. Track King locations from the start and prioritize clearing paths to any buried Kings early in the game.

Waste Pile Pairing

You can pair the current waste pile top card with an uncovered tableau card that sums to 13. Always check this option each time you flip a stock card before flipping the next. Pairing a stock card immediately rather than burying it under the next flip keeps your options open. Some implementations also let you pair two consecutive waste pile cards directly with each other if they sum to 13; if your ruleset allows this, it is a significant advantage worth using aggressively.

Manage Stock Passes Carefully

Standard Pyramid allows up to 3 passes through the 24-card stock. Burning through all stock cards on pass 1 without clearing much of the pyramid usually ends in failure because passes 2 and 3 reveal the same cards in the same order. If key pairs cannot be completed in the current arrangement, you need the tableau situation to change between passes. Clearing tableau pairs between stock passes is what makes subsequent passes productive.

6 Common Mistakes

• Removing a card that is needed to uncover another. Before taking any pairing, check whether one of these two cards is the only current path to a buried card. If you remove the 6 from row 6 and that 6 is the only card covering a buried 7 you need for a 6+7 pair elsewhere, you may have made the game unwinnable. Think two moves ahead.
• Forgetting the Queen+Ace pair. Queens worth 12 pair with Aces worth 1 to sum to 13. This is the least intuitive pairing because Aces look like they should pair with Kings. Seeing a Queen and not immediately thinking you need an Ace is a common oversight.
• Counting pyramid rows incorrectly. A card in row 6 is covered by 2 cards in row 7. It is not available until both covering cards are removed. New players sometimes try to play a row 6 card when only 1 of 2 covering cards has been removed.
• Ignoring the apex. The apex card in row 1 can only be reached by clearing a specific path through 6 rows. Players who focus entirely on the bottom rows and ignore the top often find themselves with a cleared bottom half and a blocked apex, which creates frustrating late-game deadlocks.

7 Variants

Relaxed Pyramid (No Stock Limit)

Allow unlimited passes through the stock. This version is much easier and recommended for learning the pairing logic without the frustration of stock exhaustion. Once comfortable with pairings and planning, move to the standard 3-pass limit for a real challenge.

Tut's Tomb

A harder variant with only 1 pass through the stock allowed. Much more difficult since you cannot rely on recycling to find buried pairs. The fully visible tableau helps compensate; study the layout carefully before starting your first stock card flip.

Double Pyramid

Two pyramids side by side using a double deck of 104 cards (28 cards each pyramid). Cards from either pyramid can pair with each other or with the shared waste pile top. Win condition is clearing both pyramids. Much more complex and requires careful planning across both layouts simultaneously to avoid running out of stock.

8 FAQ