Pyramid Solitaire rules: how to play and win

Pyramid Solitaire uses one standard 52-card deck, no jokers, and it's a single-player game.

That's 28 cards arranged so each row overlaps the row below it, like a real pyramid. Every card in the pyramid deals face-up, but only a card that isn't covered by any card resting on top of it is actually playable. At the start, that means the full 7-card base row is open, along with the single card at the very top. Every other card stays locked until the cards covering it are cleared away.

The remaining 24 cards form a face-down stock pile off to one side, which you'll turn over as the pyramid opens up.

Pairing cards to 13

The entire game runs on one rule: any two exposed, playable cards whose values add up to exactly 13 can be removed together. Number cards count at face value, a Jack counts as 11, and a Queen counts as 12. So a 9 pairs with a 4, a 6 pairs with a 7, a Jack pairs with a 2, and a Queen pairs with an Ace. The two cards don't need to be next to each other or even in the same row, as long as both are currently uncovered and playable, including cards sitting on the waste pile or the top of the stock.

Removing a King alone

A King is worth 13 on its own, so it's the one card that never needs a partner. Any exposed King can be removed by itself the moment it's playable, which is often the fastest way to open up a row that a King is sitting in.

Drawing from the stock

Once no more legal pairs are available among the exposed cards, turn over the top card of the stock into a face-up waste pile, one card at a time. That new card is playable immediately, either paired with something else that's exposed or, if it's a King, removed on its own. The most commonly cited standard lets you cycle back through the stock up to three total passes once you've worked through it, rather than allowing unlimited redeals. Some easier variants only allow one or two passes, so treat three as the common convention rather than a fixed universal rule.

There's no points system in standard Pyramid Solitaire. You either clear the pyramid or you don't.

The most commonly cited win condition is simple: once all 28 cards in the pyramid have been paired off or removed, you've won, regardless of what's still sitting in the stock or waste pile. A stricter variant does exist, sometimes described as the "official" or full-clear version, that also requires every stock and waste card to make its way to 13-pairs or a King before the game counts as won. That version is considerably harder, since it leaves far less room for cards to sit unused. Neither version is wrong, they're just different targets, and this page states both rather than picking one silently.

As with Klondike, not every Pyramid Solitaire deal is winnable, even with perfect play. That's a genuinely different situation from FreeCell, where the overwhelming majority of deals can be solved.