Pyramid Solitaire Strategy: How to Win More Often

Pyramid looks simple. Remove pairs of cards that add up to 13, clear the pyramid, win. Then you play ten deals and win two, and wonder what you are missing.

Pyramid is a hard game with a real luck component. Good strategy will not make it easy, but it will stop you from throwing away deals that were winnable. This guide covers the habits that matter.

The rules in 30 seconds

Twenty-eight cards sit in a pyramid of seven rows, all face up. Cards are valued Ace 1, Jack 11, Queen 12, King 13. You remove any two available cards that add to 13: a 6 and a 7, a Queen and an Ace, a 10 and a 3. A King is removed alone with one tap.

A pyramid card is available once the two cards overlapping it in the row below are gone. The seven cards of the bottom row start available, and the apex is the last card to be freed.

The other 24 cards form the stock. Tapping it turns one card onto a single waste pile. Only the top waste card is playable: it can pair with an available pyramid card, or be removed alone if it is a King. Two waste cards cannot pair with each other, and the face-down stock card cannot be used.

By default you get three passes through the stock, so the waste can be turned over twice. When it is turned over, the cards come back in the same order as before, minus anything you removed. Add ?passes=1 to the address of our Pyramid Solitaire page for a single pass, or ?passes=unlimited for no limit. You win by clearing all 28 pyramid cards; the stock and waste do not have to be empty. Other sites may use different pass rules. For unfamiliar terms, see the glossary.

The core idea: count before you pair

Every pair you remove changes what is left. Before you take one, ask whether each card has another possible partner.

Example

Say there is a 9 in the pyramid and a 4 is available. If two other 4s are still in play, taking the 9 with the available 4 is probably fine. If that 4 is the last one you can still reach, it is the only partner for the 9. Use it on a different 9 and you may have stranded the first one.

The skill is tracking how many partners each rank has left. There are four cards of each rank. When all four 5s are gone, every remaining 8 is stuck for good. When three 6s are gone, the last 6 is precious, because it is the only partner left for the 7s.

Priorities when choosing a pair

1. Work from the bottom up, and keep the rows even

The bottom row is what you can reach first. Each card you free in a lower row helps uncover the card above it, so prefer pairs that open new cards over pairs that change nothing. The apex comes last, and it needs a partner like any other card.

2. Look for buried cards that are already doomed

Scan for cards trapped deep in the pyramid. If a Queen is buried and all four Aces are gone, that Queen can never be removed, and the deal is lost. It is useful to know early, so you can move on.

3. Remove Kings as soon as they are available

A King is removed alone, so taking one costs nothing and may uncover the cards above it. Do it the moment a King is free, whether it sits in the pyramid or on top of the waste.

4. Pair within the pyramid before drawing

If two pyramid cards make 13, you usually should take them rather than turn a stock card. Stock cards are a limited resource. Pyramid pairs are free. The exception is when removing a pyramid pair would use up a card you need to keep for another partner.

Managing the stock

This is where most deals are won or lost.

Scan before you draw

Beginners draw from the stock out of habit. Scan the pyramid first. Is any pair available right now? Many players overlook a pair made of cards in different rows.

Remember what came up

On the second pass the waste cards return in the same order, minus the ones you removed. If you saw a 5 turn up three cards ago and you need a 5, you know roughly when it comes back. This only helps while passes remain, so know whether you have three, one or unlimited.

Remember that only the top waste card counts

Each new draw buries the previous waste card, and you cannot reach it until the waste is turned over again. If a card you need goes by with no partner available, it is gone until the next pass. That is why a pass is worth spending carefully.

A sample decision

The available pyramid cards include 8♣, 5♥ and Q♦. The waste top is 5♠. You can pair 8♣ with 5♥, or 8♣ with 5♠. Which one?

Use the waste card. The 5♠ is about to be buried under the next draw, and it comes back only if a pass remains. The 5♥ stays put in the pyramid and will still be there when you need it, perhaps for a buried 8 you can see.

This is the most common pattern: use the waste card when you can, and save pyramid cards for when you need them. It feels backward at first, but pyramid cards stay put and waste cards do not.

Common mistakes

Pairing too fast. Take a second to count partners.

Ignoring blocked ranks. Jacks pair only with 2s, so once all four 2s are gone, every Jack left is dead. Learn the pairs: Ace and Queen, 2 and Jack, 3 and 10, 4 and 9, 5 and 8, 6 and 7. Keep count of each.

Digging one side only. Clear evenly. A deep hole on the left with a wall on the right leaves cards trapped.

Burning passes early. Each pass through the stock is limited. Do not cycle until you have checked every pyramid move.

Playing on after the deal is dead. If a rank is gone and its partner is trapped, you may be finished. Recognize it and start a new deal.

Realistic expectations

Pyramid is one of the harder common solitaire games to win, and we do not publish a win rate for it. Even careful play wins a modest share of deals, and that is normal. Judge yourself by how many cards you clear, not only by wins.

If you want a gentler game with a similar quick feel, try TriPeaks and read the TriPeaks strategy guide. For a comparison with other games, see types of solitaire games.