How to play TriPeaks solitaire

What TriPeaks is

TriPeaks is a fast patience game for one player. Twenty-eight cards form three overlapping peaks, and you clear them onto a single pile, each card one rank higher or lower than the card on top, whatever its suit. A deal takes a few minutes, and the pleasure is in long runs: a good streak can strip half a peak before you touch the stock.

Playing TriPeaks on AllFun

AllFun TriPeaks has 72 levels, each a deal our solver has proven can be won with the cards it gives you. The stock shrinks as you climb, from 23 cards to 14. A Wild card that plays on anything arrives at level 7, padlocked cards that wait for their key card at level 13, and from level 21 some levels set a target score. The Daily deal is the same for everyone, with a full stock and one Wild.

Tap a free card to play it, or tap the stock for a new card. Hint lights a playable card, Undo gives three moves back a game and Wild adds one Wild card to the pile. If you run out, the end card may offer five more cards. King and Ace connect by default; switch off King and Ace touch in Settings for the stricter rule.

The rules

The layout

The 28 cards are dealt in rows of 3, 6, 9 and 10: three peaks that share one bottom row of ten. The bottom row is face up; every other card turns face up only when nothing covers it. The remaining 24 cards are the stock, and its first card is turned up to start the pile, often called the waste.

Playing a card

Any face-up card that is one rank above or below the top of the pile can be played onto it, and it becomes the new top. A 7 can take a 6 or an 8, and the run can change direction whenever you like: 7, 8, 9, 8, 7, 6 is fine. Suits and colours do not matter.

King and Ace

Most versions let ranks wrap round, so a King plays on an Ace and an Ace on a King. Some play without this, which makes the game noticeably harder. Agree which you are playing before you count scores.

The stock

When no card fits, turn the next stock card onto the pile; it becomes the new top. The stock is gone through only once. When it is empty and nothing fits, the deal is over. Clear all 28 cards to win.

Scoring

Cards played without touching the stock make a streak. In AllFun the first card of a streak scores 100, the next 150, then 200 and up, and drawing from the stock starts again at 100. Clearing the top of a peak adds 1,000, and every stock card left when you finish adds 250.

Six tips for TriPeaks

1. Look two moves ahead. When two cards fit, play the one whose next card also has somewhere to go.
2. Free the hidden cards. Prefer cards that turn a face-down card up; each new card is a new chance to extend the run.
3. Change direction to go longer. Going 5, 6, 5, 4 uses cards on both sides instead of running out at the top.
4. Do not draw too soon. Every draw ends a streak and costs a stock card worth 250 at the end. Check every free card first.
5. Clear neighbours together. Most cards sit on two cards below them. Removing both neighbours under a card turns it face up.
6. Save the Wild. Use it when a long streak would otherwise stop, not to start a new one.

A short history

TriPeaks is young for a card game: it was devised in the late 1980s as a variation on Golf, an older patience in which cards are also played one step up or down onto a single pile. Its three peaks made the game more open, and computer versions spread it quickly.

TriPeaks FAQ