# Play Pyramid solitaire Pyramid is a quick, arithmetic-flavoured patience game: instead of building sequences, you clear a triangle of cards by pairing two cards whose ranks add up to 13. Kings count as 13 on their own, so they simply leave the table. [Deal Pyramid now](../index.html?game=pyramid#play) and try it here, free, with no account and no money. Your round in progress is saved automatically in your browser. Pyramid keeps its own statistics: rounds played, rounds won, best time and fewest moves for wins. ## How to win Remove every card of the pyramid. The stock and the waste do not need to be empty: once the last pyramid card is gone, the round is won. ## Rules ### The layout - One 52-card deck is used. - 28 cards form a pyramid of seven rows, from 1 card at the top to 7 cards at the bottom. All of them are face up. - A card is available when no card in the row below overlaps it. At the start, only the seven cards of the bottom row are available. - The other 24 cards form the stock. Each **Draw** turns one card onto the waste. ### Making pairs - Card values: Ace 1, 2 to 10 at face value, Jack 11, Queen 12, King 13. - Remove two available cards whose ranks add up to 13: A + Q, 2 + J, 3 + 10, 4 + 9, 5 + 8 or 6 + 7. Suits do not matter. - A King (13) is removed on its own. - The top waste card is also available, so it can pair with an available pyramid card. - Two waste cards can never pair with each other, because only the top waste card is available. ### The stock - You may go through the stock three times in total, which means two recycles of the waste. - A move is one completed action: a pair or King removed, a draw, or a recycle. ### End of the round - **Won:** the whole pyramid has been removed. - **Lost:** no pair can be made and no draw or recycle remains. - A new deal started part-way through counts the unfinished round as abandoned. ## Controls - Tap or click an available card, then tap the card it pairs with; you can also drag one card onto its partner. - **Draw** (`D`) turns the next stock card onto the waste. When the stock runs out, the waste can be turned back over while recycles remain. - **Hint** (`H`) highlights one legal move without making it; **Auto move** (`A`) plays the move the hint would show. - **Undo** (`U`) is unlimited, back to the deal. **New deal** is `N`. - Keyboard: `Tab` moves between piles, `Enter` or `Space` selects and places, `Esc` cancels a selection. ## Tips 1. **Pair pyramid cards with each other when you can.** Only the pyramid has to be cleared. Pairing two pyramid cards removes two cards from the pyramid, while pairing one with the waste removes only one, so a pyramid-only pair is usually the stronger move. 2. **Watch for cards that cover their own partner.** A 6 lying directly over a 7 can never pair with that 7, because the 7 is not available until the 6 has gone. That 6 needs a different 7, from the waste or elsewhere in the pyramid, and the 7 needs a different 6. 3. **Use the waste card before you draw.** Only the top waste card is available, so each new draw covers the previous waste card until the new card is paired away or the waste is recycled. If the current waste card makes a useful pair, play it first. 4. **Remove Kings straight away.** A King never needs a partner. Taking an available King off the pyramid immediately frees part of the row above at no cost. 5. **Use the first pass to learn the stock.** Draw turns one card at a time, so you see every remaining stock card on each of your three passes. Noting where the useful cards sit helps you time your pairs on the second and third passes. 6. **Free the cards that unlock the most.** Every card above the bottom row is overlapped by two cards below it. Work towards clearing both of those, rather than scattering pairs across the whole bottom row. The [how to play](../how-to-play.html) page covers the basics shared by all our games, and the [glossary](../glossary.html) explains terms such as stock and waste. ## Related games - [TriPeaks](tripeaks.html) also clears a pyramid-style layout, but by playing cards one rank up or down. - [Golf](golf.html) is another fast game where every card is face up from the start. - [Memory Pairs](memory-pairs.html) is a different kind of pairing game that tests your memory instead of your sums.