Rules

How to play Pyramid Solitaire

Updated October 2026 · 1 player · about 5 minutes a deal

Pyramid is a card game for one player, and one of the quickest solitaire games to learn. You deal 28 cards face up in the shape of a pyramid, then take them away two at a time, in pairs that add up to 13. You play against the cards, one deal at a time: everything you do with one shuffled deck is one deal. It is all adding, so it is a good game for practicing sums to 13.

What you need

A full 52-card deck without jokers, and a table with room for a pyramid seven cards wide. Suits and colors do not matter in this game; only what each card counts:

• an ace counts 1;
• a number card, 2 to 10, counts its number;
• a jack counts 11, a queen 12 and a king 13.

Dealing the cards

1. Shuffle the deck. Deal 1 card face up at the top of the table. This is row 1.
2. Deal row 2: 2 cards face up, side by side, just below row 1, so that each of them covers half of the bottom edge of the card above.
3. Carry on the same way: 3 cards in row 3, 4 in row 4, and so on, until row 7 has 7 cards. Each card covers the bottom of the one or two cards above it. That uses 28 cards, and every one of them is face up.
4. Put the 24 cards that are left face down in one pile. This is the draw pile. Next to it, leave room for the turned-over pile, where cards go when you turn them over, and for the removed pile, where every card you take away goes.

Free cards

A card in the pyramid is free when no card covers it. Every card is covered by the two cards just below it, so a card becomes free once both of those cards have been taken away. At the start, only the 7 cards of the bottom row are free. The card at the top of the pyramid is the last to become free.

The top card of the turned-over pile is free too. The cards under it are not: each is covered by the card turned over after it.

Taking cards away

There are no turns, because you are the only player. You make one move after another, in any order you like:

• Two free cards that add up to 13. Take them both away and put them on the removed pile. The pairs that make 13 are: an ace and a queen (1 + 12), a 2 and a jack (2 + 11), a 3 and a 10, a 4 and a 9, a 5 and an 8, and a 6 and a 7. The suits do not matter: the 6 of hearts pairs with any 7. Both cards can be in the pyramid, or one can be the top card of the turned-over pile.
• A free king. A king counts 13 by itself, so it is taken away on its own.

In this game a pair means two cards that add up to 13. In most other card games a pair means two cards of the same rank, such as two 7s.

A card can never pair with a card it covers, because the lower card is not free while the upper card is on it. A 6 lying on a 7 has to go with some other 7.

You never have to take a pair you can see. You may leave it for later.

The draw pile

When you cannot, or do not want to, take anything else, turn over the top card of the draw pile and put it face up on the turned-over pile. It is now free: pair it with a free card of the pyramid, or take it away on its own if it is a king. If you do not use it, it stays where it is, and the next card you turn over covers it.

When the draw pile is empty, pick up the turned-over pile, turn it over without shuffling it, and use it as a new draw pile. You may go through the draw pile three times in all: the first time, and two more times after turning the pile back over. Rule books differ on this number (see Common variations).

Winning, and when you are stuck

You win when every card of the pyramid has been taken away. Cards left in the draw pile and the turned-over pile do not matter. Some rule books ask for more (see Common variations).

You are stuck when no pair or king can be taken and turning over cards cannot help: the draw pile is used up with no trip left, or no card that can still come up adds up to 13 with a free card. Cards in the piles never pair with each other, because only the top one is free, so when none of them fits a free card of the pyramid, nothing can change. The deal is then lost. The practice game says so when it happens.

Play a practice game of Pyramid Solitaire

Rules make more sense once you have held the cards. The practice game deals a pyramid for you, outlines the cards a picked card pairs with, and explains one good move whenever you press Hint. It has no timer, and Undo has no limit, so you can try things without fear.

Four things beginners miss

Uncover cards first

A card in the pyramid can be used only once nothing covers it, so the cards high up in the pyramid decide the deal. When you can choose between pairs, take the one that uncovers more cards. If none uncovers anything, a pair of two pyramid cards clears more of the pyramid than a pair that uses the turned-over card.

Use the turned-over card before turning over the next

The next card you turn over covers the one on top, and it stays covered until the cards on it are used. If the top card pairs with a free card now, take the pair first.

Take kings at once

A king never pairs with anything, so keeping one only blocks the cards it covers. Take a free king away as soon as you see it.

Watch for a card sitting on its partner

A card that covers a card it could pair with can never pair with that card. A 6 on a 7 needs another 7. If all the other 7s are buried under it too, it must wait for one from the draw pile, so use the draw pile's 7s for it rather than for a card that has other partners.

Questions people ask

Can two cards from the turned-over pile pair with each other?

No, in the rules on this page. Only the top card of the turned-over pile is free, so it can pair only with a free card of the pyramid. Some rule books turn the top card of the draw pile face up and let it pair with the top of the turned-over pile (see Common variations).

Do I have to take a pair as soon as I see it?

No. You may leave it and turn over the next card. Usually it is better to take it, especially when it uses the top card of the turned-over pile, which the next card would cover.

What happens to the cards I take away?

They go face up on the removed pile and stay out of the game for the rest of the deal.

Do the cards left in the draw pile count against me?

Not in the rules on this page: you win as soon as the pyramid is gone. Some rule books want every card taken away, and some players score a lost deal by the number of cards left in the pyramid, where 0 is a perfect score.

Why can I not use a card that is only covered a little?

Because a card is free only when no card covers it at all. Even if just one of the two cards below it is left, it is still covered.

Common variations

Rule books and computer versions differ on several points. If you play with other people's rules, check which of these they use.

• How many trips through the draw pile. Older rule books allow only one trip: when the draw pile runs out, the deal is over. Many rule sets and computer versions allow three trips in all, which is what this page and the practice game use. Some computer versions let you go through it as many times as you like.
• Taking away every card. In the strictest rules you win only when all 52 cards are on the removed pile, not just the 28 of the pyramid. With one trip and this rule, about 1 deal in 50 can be won.
• The draw pile's top card face up. Some rule books turn the top card of the draw pile face up and let it, and the top card of the turned-over pile, both be used. Then those two can also pair with each other.
• A card and the card it covers. Some versions let a card pair with a card it covers, as long as no other card covers either of them.
• Turning over three cards at a time. A version often called Tut's Tomb turns over the draw pile three cards at a time.
• Points. Some players count the cards left in the pyramid after a lost deal, and add them up over several deals. The practice game only counts your moves.