What Is Pyramid Solitaire?
Pyramid Solitaire is a quick and satisfying one-player card game. Deal 28 cards into a pyramid shape — one card on top, two below it, three below those, and so on down to seven in the bottom row. Your goal is to remove all the pyramid cards by pairing any two that add up to 13. Kings can be removed alone since they are worth 13. The challenge: a card cannot be removed until both cards overlapping it from above have already been cleared.
What You Need
- One standard deck of 52 playing cards
- One player
Card Values for Pyramid
- Ace = 1
- 2 through 10 = face value
- Jack = 11
- Queen = 12
- King = 13 — removed alone, no pairing needed
Pairs That Total 13
- Ace (1) + Queen (12)
- 2 + Jack (11)
- 3 + 10
- 4 + 9
- 5 + 8
- 6 + 7
- King — removed alone
Setting Up the Game
- Deal cards face-up into a pyramid with 7 rows: row 1 has 1 card at the top, row 2 has 2 cards, row 3 has 3 cards, and so on down to row 7 with 7 cards in the bottom row. Each card partially overlaps the two cards in the row below it.
- The remaining 24 cards form the stock pile face-down.
- Leave space next to the stock for a waste pile.
Understanding Available Cards
A card is available — meaning you can use it — only if no other cards are currently sitting on top of it. In the pyramid, bottom row cards are always available. Cards in higher rows become available only after both cards below them (one to the lower-left and one to the lower-right) have been removed.
How to Play — Step by Step
- Look at the bottom row of the pyramid for any two available cards that add up to 13. If you find a pair, remove both cards from the pyramid.
- Remove any Kings you find — they need no partner.
- After removing a pair, check if newly uncovered cards create new pairs.
- When you cannot make any more pairs from available pyramid cards, flip the top card from the stock pile face-up onto the waste pile.
- The top card of the waste pile is always available — you can pair it with any available pyramid card.
- Continue flipping from the stock and pairing cards until you clear the pyramid or run out of options.
When the Stock Runs Out
If the stock pile is empty and you still have pyramid cards remaining, the game is over — you have lost this deal. In some rule variations, you are allowed one or two additional passes through the waste pile.
Winning
Remove all 28 pyramid cards. The stock and waste pile do not need to be cleared — just the pyramid.
Tips for New Players
- Look for chain reactions — removing one pair sometimes immediately exposes two or three new available cards and their potential pairs.
- Be strategic about which pair to remove when you have a choice — think about which removal opens up the most new cards in higher pyramid rows.
- Don’t flip the stock too quickly — exhaust all available pyramid pairings before drawing from the stock.