How to play Pyramid solitaire

What Pyramid solitaire is

Pyramid is a patience game for one player with a simple sum at its heart: remove cards in pairs that add up to 13. Twenty-eight cards are dealt face up in a triangle of seven rows, and the rest of the pack is turned up from a stock. Because the whole pyramid is visible from the start, the game rewards looking ahead, and a deal can often be planned several moves in advance.

Playing Pyramid on AllFun

AllFun Pyramid has 72 levels, each a deal our solver has proven can be won. The first six let you turn the waste back into the stock as often as you like; after that you get three recycles, then two, then one, and from level 57 none. Along the way come a Wild card that pairs with anything but a King, padlocked cards that wait for their key card, and levels with a target score.

Classic deal is a plain winnable deal with 1, 3 or unlimited recycles, set in Settings; the Daily deal is the same for everyone, with two recycles and a Wild card. Hint is always there, Undo gives three moves back a game, and Restart deals the same cards again.

The rules

Card values

An Ace counts 1, number cards their number, a Jack 11, a Queen 12 and a King 13. A King makes 13 by itself and is removed alone. Suits do not matter.

Which cards are free

Each card in the pyramid is overlapped by two cards in the row below. A card is free only when both of those are gone, so at the start only the seven cards of the bottom row can be played.

The stock and the waste

The other 24 cards form the stock. Turn them one at a time; the card showing beside the stock and the top card of the waste are both free, and each can pair with a free pyramid card or with each other. When the stock runs out, the waste can be turned over and dealt again, as many times as the rules allow. Traditional versions allow anything from no recycles to two or three.

Winning and scoring

The deal is won when the card at the very top is cleared, which means the whole pyramid is gone. AllFun scores every pair or King in a run without drawing higher than the last: 100, then 150, then 200 and up. A cleared row adds 200, the top card 1,000, and at the end every card left in the stock adds 100 and every unused recycle 500. Your score sets your stars.

Six tips for Pyramid

1. Spot dead pairs early. A card can never pair with a card it covers: a 6 lying on a 7 needs a different 7. Such pairs will need help from the stock.
2. Open the bottom row evenly. A card above is free only once both cards under it are gone, so clearing one side alone opens little.
3. Take Kings at once. A free King needs no partner, and removing it frees cards above for nothing.
4. Use the waste before you turn. The top of the waste is free only until you turn another card onto it. Pair it first if you can.
5. Choose the partner that opens more. When two cards could pair with the same card, take the one that uncovers something new.
6. Count your recycles. With one recycle left, note which stock cards you will need and in what order before you start the last pass.

A short history

Pyramid belongs to an old family of adding patiences, where cards leave in pairs or groups that make a set total. It reached a far larger audience once computer solitaire collections included it.

Pyramid solitaire FAQ