How to play Pyramid Solitaire

By Ari Hlynsson · 1 player · Updated 10 September 2026

Clear all twenty-eight cards out of the pyramid by taking them off in pairs that add up to thirteen. A king is thirteen on its own and goes by itself.

The rules, step by step

1. 1

   Twenty-eight cards are dealt in seven rows — one at the top, seven along the bottom — with every card overlapping the two beneath it. The other twenty-four go into the stock.

2. 2

   A card is free once both of the cards resting on it have gone. Only the bottom row is free at the deal, which is where every game starts.

3. 3

   Tap two free cards whose ranks add up to thirteen and both leave the board. Ace and queen, two and jack, three and ten, and so on down to six and seven.

4. 4

   A king is thirteen already. Tap it once and it goes on its own — there is nothing to pair it with.

5. 5

   When nothing on the pyramid pairs, turn the stock one card at a time onto the waste. The card on top of the waste is playable; the card under it is not, and neither is the stock.

6. 6

   The waste can be turned back into the stock twice. That is three passes through the deck in all, and there is no fourth.

7. 7

   Clear all twenty-eight pyramid cards to win. Whatever is left in the stock at that point does not count against you.

Tips that change how you play

• Prefer a pair made of two pyramid cards over one made with the waste. Two pyramid cards open two positions at once, and opening the pyramid is the only thing that actually advances the game.
• Look at what a pair uncovers, not just at what the two cards are. Two cards side by side are holding up the same card above them, so taking that pair frees it; a pair split across the row frees nothing, and leaves the pyramid exactly as deep as it was.
• Take every free king the moment you see one. A king costs a single tap, needs no partner and can never be the wrong move — there is no reason to leave one standing.
• The stock comes round in the same order every pass. If a card near the top of the pyramid has only one partner left in the deck, count the flips it will take to reach it before you spend a redeal getting there.

A worked opening

Say the bottom row reads, left to right: an ace, a five, a king, a seven, a six, a ten and a queen. Three moves are on offer and no more — the five wants an eight and the ten wants a three, and neither is on the board. The king goes first, on its own, because it always does and it costs nothing. That leaves the seven with the six, which are next to each other, and the ace with the queen, which are at opposite ends. Those two moves are not worth the same. The seven and the six are the two cards holding up the same card in the row above, so taking them frees it and hands you a new rank to work with. The ace and the queen each hold up a different card whose other supporter is still standing, so taking them opens nothing at all and the pyramid is exactly as deep as it was. Take the seven and the six, look at what came free, and leave the ace and the queen — they are not going anywhere, and one of them may be the only partner some card you have not reached yet has left.

Mistakes that cost beginners the game

Taking whatever pairs, in the order you happen to notice it.

Every pair is legal but very few are useful. Ask which cards a pair uncovers before you take it: a pair that frees two new cards has moved the game on, and a pair that frees none has spent two cards for nothing and made the rest of the pyramid harder.

Turning the stock over to see what is coming next.

You get three passes and no more, and every flip covers the card underneath — the six you just turned onto a seven has buried that seven until the next redeal. Take everything the pyramid will give you before you touch the stock.

Clearing the bottom row flat because it is the row you can reach.

The bottom row is seven cards of the twenty-eight and the six rows above it are twenty-one. Cards along the bottom stay available to you; cards higher up are the ones you cannot reach at all until the row below them goes. Dig upwards, not sideways.

Common questions about Pyramid Solitaire