Pyramid
Clear the pyramid by pairing cards that add up to 13.
FAQ
How do I play Pyramid Solitaire?
Which cards pair together?
What if the stock runs out?
Can I undo a mistake?
How to use
- Understand exposure
28 cards form a 7-row pyramid, and a card becomes selectable only once both cards resting on it are gone. The bottom row starts fully open; higher rows need planning.
- Pair cards to 13
Tap one available card to select it (it highlights). Then tap another whose rank adds up to 13, and both disappear: Q+A, J+2, 10+3, 9+4, 8+5, 7+6.
- Kings go in one tap
A King already counts 13, so a single tap removes it. Scan the bottom row for kings at the start and clear them before they become a nuisance.
- Use the stock and waste
Tap the stock at the bottom left to flip one card to the waste. The topmost waste card pairs with any selectable pyramid card. When the stock empties, tap it again and the waste shuffles back as often as you need.
- Tear down the pyramid
Remove all 28 pyramid cards to win. Undo steps back before every action, so when a line dries up, rewind a few moves and try a different order.
About this tool
Pyramid Solitaire traces back to French card games of the 1700s and became widely known through the solitaire collections bundled with Microsoft Windows. It swaps sorting for arithmetic: 13 is the only target number, and every move is an addition puzzle played with the cards currently in view. The rules take a minute to explain, yet whether the pyramid falls depends entirely on the order in which you remove pairs.
This version plays with relaxed, casual rules. The stock recycles without limit, undo is always available, and best scores by moves and time are stored locally in the browser. It is built for phones: every action is a tap and nothing needs dragging. That makes it an ideal brain-teaser for spare minutes.
How it works
The pyramid makes order everything. 28 cards form 14 pairs. A card is selectable only once both cards resting on it are gone, so the real object being solved is a dependency graph. The bottom row starts free and the tangle grows upward. Clearing a double supporter first unlocks two positions at once, which is the natural greedy move. When ranks repeat, say two 8s and two 5s, choosing which 8 pairs with which 5 decides what is stranded on the other side. That one extra look is where most wins are decided.
The stock is the other half of the battlefield. Of 52 cards, 24 wait in the pile, and unlimited recycling guarantees that every rank eventually shows up. The question is whether you kept a partner for it inside the pyramid. The arithmetic of 13 deserves respect too: Q plus A down to 7 plus 6 gives nine pairings, plus four Kings that walk off alone. A ten-second opening scan for Kings and for the shape of the bottom row saves most of the undoing later. Everything above depends on what the base lets you reach.
When to use it
- Mental arithmetic warm-up
Pairing to 13 quietly drills addition within 20, which suits children and adults shaking off rust alike. Explain that Q is 12, J is 11 and K is 13, and the whole game fits into a five-minute lesson.
- One-hand commute play
Every action is a tap, never a drag, so a hand on the rail still works. Stuck lines unwind with undo and the stock never dead-ends, which keeps the game perfectly sized to a train stop.
- A pressure-free puzzle
Play it shallowly and half the pyramid still falls; play it carefully and the full clear takes real sequencing. That shallow-to-deep range is exactly what a calm pre-sleep round wants, with Kings for sparkle.
Tips & tricks
- Remove double supporters first: a card that covers two cards above unlocks the most when it leaves, so clear those early.
- Do not burn the waste too fast: sometimes the better plan is to strip the pyramid of everything it offers before drawing again.
- Watch the counts: if only one 8 remains but two 5s do, spend the scarce rank first while its partner is still available.
Things to watch
- Clearing whatever is handy
The first pair you spot on the bottom row is rarely the right one. If it covers nothing, removing it advances nothing, so hunt for double supporters first and let every move unlock something.
- Squandering scarce ranks
When only one card of a rank remains, its partner choice matters, because picking the wrong counterpart strands a twin for good. Tally the remaining counts before moving and spend the scarcest rank first.
- Overlooking the Kings
Kings vanish in one tap, but only when reachable, and a King buried mid-pyramid needs its covering cards cleared first. Skipping the opening King scan is how endgames end with one stranded high up.