Pyramid Solitaire — free online card game, no download

Twenty-eight cards are stacked in a seven-row pyramid, each one pinned by the two cards resting on it. The single rule is arithmetic: remove any two uncovered cards whose ranks add up to 13. An Ace counts 1, a Jack 11, a Queen 12, and a King is already 13, so a King leaves on its own. Ace with Queen, 2 with Jack, 3 with 10, and so on down to 6 with 7 — those are the only six pairings that exist, and learning them is the whole of the setup.

When nothing on the pyramid can pair, you turn a card from the stock and pair that instead. You get three passes through the stock and no more. Your score is the time on the clock when the last card leaves the pyramid, so only a cleared pyramid counts — and because a run can take a few minutes, this one saves itself if you close the tab. It is free, runs in any browser, and needs nothing installed.

How to play

• Tap two uncovered cards that sum to 13. Ace = 1, Jack = 11, Queen = 12.
• Tap a King to remove it alone — it is worth 13 by itself.
• A card is uncovered once both cards resting on it are gone. Buried cards are dimmed.
• Tap the stock to turn a card, then pair it with the pyramid or with the card beneath it in the tray.
• You get three passes through the stock. The clock is your score, so only a cleared pyramid banks a time.

The six pairs, and why the 6–7 rows decide the game

There are only six ways to make 13: A–Q, 2–J, 3–10, 4–9, 5–8 and 6–7, plus the King on its own. That means every card in the deck has exactly one partner rank and there are four of each — so any given card has four possible partners in the whole deck, no more. That scarcity is the real constraint, and it is why this game punishes greed: take both of your 8s early against two different 5s, and the moment a third 5 surfaces you have nothing left to answer it with.

The practical consequence is that you should almost never make a pair just because it is legal. Before removing two cards, look at what each one uncovers. A pair that frees two new cards is worth far more than a pair that frees none, and a pair that empties a slot you needed to reach a buried King is worth less than nothing. When two pairings of the same rank are available, take the one deeper in the pyramid — the shallower card will still be there next turn, while the deep one may get sealed behind a card you cannot move.

The 6s and 7s deserve special attention because they pair only with each other. Every other rank has an escape route through the tray if you are patient, but a 6 stranded at the bottom of the pyramid needs a 7 specifically, and there are only four in the deck. If you can see a 6 and a 7 both buried in the lower rows, that is usually the pair to plan your first dozen moves around, not the easy Ace–Queen sitting in plain sight at the top.

Finally, use the three passes deliberately. The first pass is for reconnaissance as much as removal — every card you decline still tells you where a rank has gone. Players who clear the pyramid tend to spend the first pass clearing the bottom rows and the third pass mopping up, rather than grabbing every legal pair the moment it appears. If you like this sort of forward planning, TriPeaks and Golf Solitaire reward the same habit with a much shorter run.

More games

The other card games: Golf Solitaire, TriPeaks, FreeCell and Klondike. Or browse all games.