How to play Pyramid Solitaire

Pyramid solitaire is a fun solitaire game that is quite different from normal solitaire: in most solitaire games, you build cards on a foundation, but in Pyramid solitaire you remove the cards! Cards can only be removed when they total 13. With its easily recognizable design (shaped like a pyramid) and requiring a combination of luck and skill, it is a popular solitaire game played by many.

The basic rules are …

  • You win if you can remove ALL cards from the game
  • The cards are removed in pairs, when they add up to 13
  • You can deliver from the claw at any time
  • Gain 2 Claw Trades
  • Only a maximum of 2 cards are visible from the claw at any one time

You can only use cards that are completely uncovered (if a card is in the pyramid but covered by another card, you cannot select it)

For example, if a part of the pyramid looks like this …

... K... 

... Q.7...
..2.4.7..
.5.8.K.J.

Initially, you will not be able to pair the Jack with the two (because the two is covered by the five and eight cards). Start by removing the five and the eight. Now card 2 will be uncovered and can be paired with card Jack.

Possible partners in Pyramid Solitaire are …

King

Six Seven
Five Eight
Four Nine
Three Ten
Two Jack
Ace Queen

Kings are a special case, they remove themselves.

Tips for Pyramid Solitaire

  • Don’t just automatically combine the cards you see. Knowing when to call and when to wait is often the difference between winning and losing.
  • Always eliminate the kings as soon as you can. There is never any reason to keep them in play.
  • Look for “trapped” cards by other cards below. You may need to delete specific cards in a certain order to access them

Here’s an example of a “trapped” card …

... 2... 

... 5.3...
..8.8.4..
.7.8.6.6.

Notice that the five has 3 eight underneath. The fives are eliminated with the eights, so we must pay special attention to this inversion. That 5 cannot be combined with any of the eight below. Wherever the other 8 are, we’ll have to save them for IS five. If we use it in another five, we can never eliminate this one and the game will not be winnable.

That might sound a bit complicated, but don’t worry too much about it, you’ll start to learn it effortlessly the more you play.

The pyramid solitaire can sometimes be quite difficult. In fact, some agreements are truly impossible to complete. However, you can still win quite often; Data collected from Dailysol shows that you can win about 60% of the games, so make sure you don’t give up early!

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