Pocket Games
Pyramid solitaire
Twenty-eight cards in a pyramid and one rule: remove them in pairs that add up to 13, and kings go on their own. Five minutes a game. All the difficulty is in the order you free cards, because every card covers two others.
The rules
Twenty-eight cards laid out as a pyramid, in seven rows. Every card is covered by the two below it: you can only use a free card, meaning one with nothing resting on top of it. The remaining cards form a stock you draw from, one at a time.
You remove cards in pairs adding up to 13, where an ace is 1, a jack 11, a queen 12 and a king 13:
- Ace + Queen
- 2 + Jack
- 3 + 10
- 4 + 9
- 5 + 8
- 6 + 7
- A king goes on its own, because it is already worth 13.
You can pair a pyramid card with another pyramid card, or with the face-up card from the stock. You win by clearing the whole pyramid. In this version you can go through the stock three times in total. The record kept is your move count: fewer is better.
How to play it well
Remove kings the moment you see them. There is no downside: they leave on their own and free whatever is underneath. Nothing else in the game costs you nothing.
Before removing a pair, check where its twins are. Every rank has four cards. If you can remove an 8 with a 5, but the pyramid has another 5 buried deep that will need an 8, and the other 8s are already gone, you have just condemned that card. This is the reasoning that separates a won game from a lost one, and that is all there is to it.
Counting pays. You do not need a champion’s memory: it is enough to notice when a rank is running out. If three 9s out of four have gone and two 4s remain in the pyramid, one of them is never coming out.
Dig where the pyramid is deepest. Cards in the bottom rows are available straight away but they also block the least; the real goal is freeing the upper rows, so favour moves that remove cards vertically rather than sideways.
Do not draw out of habit. Every draw brings the end of the pass closer. Before touching the stock, check for pairs between two free pyramid cards: those are always free.
When the game is lost
Pyramid has a low win rate: many layouts are not solvable even with perfect play, typically because two cards of the same rank cover each other inside the pyramid. If you see a 6 sitting directly above the 7 it would need, and the other 7s are already out, that game is decided.
That is not a flaw: it is why a game lasts five minutes and you can start another one straight away.
Frequently asked questions
Does a king go on its own?
Yes, it is worth 13 by itself and needs no partner. Aces are worth 1 and need to be paired with a queen.
Can I use a stock card with another stock card?
Yes, when both are face up. It is a move worth watching for on the last pass, once the pyramid is nearly empty.
How many times can I go through the stock?
Three passes in total. After the last one, only the pairs you can make inside the pyramid are left.
Why does it add up to 13?
Because a standard deck has thirteen ranks, from 1 to 13, so every card has exactly one partner that brings it to 13. That symmetry is what the game is built on.
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