Pyramid Solitaire rules.
A pair. A path. Thirteen.

How do you set up Pyramid Solitaire?

Shuffle one standard 52-card pack without jokers. Deal 28 cards face up in seven overlapping rows: one in the first row, two in the next, then three, four, five, six and seven. Each card above the bottom row is covered by the two cards immediately below it. The other 24 cards form a face-down stock. Leave space for a face-up waste pile and removed cards.

1. Use one pack and no jokers.
2. Deal seven overlapping rows, containing 28 cards altogether.
3. Put the remaining 24 cards in the stock.
4. Begin with the seven exposed cards along the bottom.

What are the card values?

Aces count as one, number cards keep their printed values, jacks count as eleven and queens as twelve. Kings count as thirteen and leave on their own. Suits and colours do not affect matching.

You remove two cards whose values total exactly thirteen. You cannot combine three or more cards, and a king does not need a second card.

Which cards can you remove?

At the start, only the bottom seven pyramid cards are exposed. A card in a higher row becomes exposed after both of its covering cards have been removed. Removing just one is not enough.

Choose two exposed pyramid cards that total thirteen, or pair an exposed pyramid card with the top waste card. A top waste king can also leave on its own. Cards deeper in the waste and face-down stock cards are unavailable.

You cannot match a covered parent card with the card covering it: the parent must already be exposed before the move begins.

How do the stock and waste work?

Draw one face-down stock card onto the waste. Only the current top waste card is playable. If you remove it, the card beneath becomes the new top and may be used. Drawing again buries the previous waste top.

After exhausting the stock, you may turn the whole waste over without shuffling. This restores the original draw order of the remaining cards. Our table allows three passes through the stock in total: the first pass plus two recycles. Recycling is a separate action; press Draw once more to reveal the next card.

This version does not expose the face-down stock top for matching. You must draw it to the waste first. You also cannot pair two buried waste cards. These details differ between published Pyramid variants, so agree them before a physical game.

How do you win Pyramid Solitaire?

Remove every one of the 28 pyramid cards to win. Stock and waste cards may remain. The last legal removal completes the game immediately; there is no extra requirement to clear the whole pack.

A deal has no moves left when there is no legal exposed pair or king, the stock is empty, and no allowed recycle remains. If the waste is empty, recycling is unavailable even before pass three. A new draw may reveal a needed partner, so an empty list of current pairs alone does not mean the deal is over.

Random deals are not checked for solvability. A blocked or unlucky deal can be impossible. Undo lets you explore a different choice, Restart repeats the same deal, and New deal shuffles a fresh pack. Hint highlights one legal move only; it does not calculate a winning solution. Progress lasts in this page until you reload or leave.

What should you look for?

Before drawing, scan the exposed pyramid cards and the waste top for matches. Removing a king frees its position without spending a partner. When several cards share a value, consider which removal opens a useful card above rather than choosing only by position.

Watch the values of still-covered cards: every queen needs an ace, every jack a two. Drawing too quickly can bury a useful waste card until it is revealed again. There is no timer or score penalty at our practice table, so take time to inspect the layout.

Rule references: Arkadium’s Pyramid rules and Brainium’s Pyramid guide. The waste-only draw rule, three-pass limit and pyramid-only win condition used here are stated explicitly. Original teaching text and prepared lessons. Reviewed 29 October 2026.