01 May
How to play Pyramid Solitaire cover image

How to Play Pyramid Solitaire & Game Rules

Forget those confusing stacks of Klondike solitaire. Pyramid Solitaire is all about clearing that pyramid of cards, one pair at a time. Sounds simple, but there’s a catch… only cards that add up to 13 disappear!

Ready to learn how to play this classic but extremely challenging solitaire card game? Here’s your complete guide with everything you need to know.

How to Play Pyramid Solitaire

The Objective

Clear that pyramid. Find pairs of UNCOVERED cards that add up to 13. Poof! They’re gone. (Kings are easy, they count as 13 all by themselves).

How to Set Up Pyramid Solitaire

Take a standard deck of cards, remove the Jokers, and shuffle.

Then start by placing one card at the top of the pyramid face up. All cards go face up. Then, half cover that card with two face-up cards below it. The two cards should be placed so they overlap the the card below it, staggered in a way.

Now place three cards of top of this, then four on the next row, and so on. Keep going until you’ve created seven rows (the bottom row has seven cards), or 28 cards in total. This is your pyramid.

A diagram showing the set up of Pyramid Solitaire with the draw pile.

The rest of the cards from the draw pile for the rest of the game. Place this face down and flip the top card to create a discard pile.

The Gameplay

The aim of the game here is to match cards that equal a total of 13. For example, you can remove a seven and a six. Kings can be removed at any time because they count as 13 on their own. Aces are one, Jacks equal 11, and Queens equal 12.

A diagram showing Pyramid Solitaire and which numbers add up to 13 that can be removed.

You can remove both cards from the pyramid itself or by drawing from the Draw Pile and matching it with a card in the pyramid.

However, there are a few catches.

  • You can only match with a card in the pyramid if it’s revealed. This means the card has no other cards on top of it.
  • If you can’t match your drawn card, it goes in a discard pile. Once you’ve drawn the last Draw Pile card, you can flip the discard pile over to become the new Draw Pile. However, you can only do this three times. If you get to the third flip, you’ve lost the game, and the pyramid wins.
  • If you draw a card and it adds up to 13 with the card on the discard pile, you can also play these.
A diagram showing someone playing a game of Pyramid Solitaire, drawing a six and matching it with a seven in the pyramid.

Any matches you make form a foundation pile, which means these cards are out of play for good and can’t be touched until the next game.

Only once the pyramid is gone have you won the game!

Strategies for winning Pyramid Solitaire

  • Spot those blockers: Some card layouts are basically impossible to win. Watch out for tricky combos that stop you from clearing the pyramid!
  • Kings are your friends: Play them right away, since they don’t need a matching card.
  • Wait and see: If you can match cards from the pyramid, hold off on matching those in the piles IF you can. Remembering what’s in those piles can help you win later.
  • Waste pile power: Got a match? Play the move from the WASTE pile first – you’ll get to flip a new card for more possibilities!

Warning: Pyramid Solitaire is HARD to win. Even experienced players lose most of the time! But that makes a victory even sweeter.