Pyramid Strategy

Pyramid is a counting game dressed up as solitaire: you remove kings alone and pair off other cards that add up to 13, and you win by clearing all 28 cards of the pyramid. The skill is bookkeeping, knowing which ranks are still alive and which pairs are about to be lost.

You never build sequences. Besides the ranks and the pairs, you have to track what the stock will give you, and you only get two passes through it. This guide is written for the Pyramid page, whose rules come first. The glossary explains the terms.

How often is a deal winnable?

Far less often than in other solitaires. In the site’s own measurements, our solver found a winning line for only about 48 percent of random Pyramid deals. That is why the deals offered here come from a checked pool: the solver found a way to clear the pyramid in each one. If you are stuck on a pool deal, a clearing line exists. It is worth undoing and counting again.

The pairs you need

Memorize the six pairs: ace and queen, 2 and jack, 3 and 10, 4 and 9, 5 and 8, 6 and 7. Kings go alone. Colors and suits do not matter. A deck holds four cards of each rank, so every pair has four chances to meet, but only if the partners are not buried or already used.

Two facts drive the whole game. A card is free only when nothing covers it. And only the top card of the waste can pair with a free pyramid card, so a drawn card you do not use is covered by the next draw and waits underneath.

Decision rules, in order

1. Take free kings first. A king needs no partner and clearing it may free the cards above.
2. Look for pairs inside the pyramid before drawing. Every draw spends a card from a limited supply.
3. Between two available pairs, take the one that frees more cards. A card in a lower row covers up to two cards above it.
4. If one card could pair with two partners, count the remaining copies. Use it on the partner whose rank is closer to running out, and keep the other.
5. Draw when no pair is on the table. Look at the new card before you decide anything else.
6. Use a drawn card at once if it pairs with something useful. If you wait, the next draw covers it.

Worked examples

Choosing between two fives

The pyramid shows one free 8 and two free 5s. One 5 sits in the bottom row and covers nothing. The other covers two cards in the row above. Either 5 pairs with the 8, but take the one that covers cards, because removing it makes those two cards free at once. When two partners are otherwise equal, pick the one whose removal opens more of the pyramid.

The rank that is running out

Three of the four 6s are gone and the last one lies under two cards. The 7s now have only one possible partner. Every 7 you still need will have to wait for that last 6. You can see this coming in advance: before you pair a 6 and a 7, check how many of each remain. If you must spend the last visible 6 on a 7, make sure it is the 7 that matters most.

Drawing with a plan

A queen has just come up on the waste, and a free ace sits in the bottom row. Take the pair now. If you draw again first, the queen goes under the next card and returns only after you remove that card. The same goes the other way: when you draw a card you want to keep for later, remember that the next draw will cover it.

Planning the second pass

When the stock runs out, the waste turns over once and becomes a new stock in the same order. You get two passes through the stock in total and no more.

That makes the first pass a scouting trip. As the cards go by, note which ranks appeared and what they were waiting for. On the second pass the order repeats, so you can predict the 4 that follows a given queen and keep a 9 uncovered for it. Use the first pass to remove what you can, and use what you saw to decide which pyramid cards you must keep available for the second.

Common mistakes

• Drawing while a pair is on the table. Each unused draw is a card spent without gain.
• Pairing cards that open nothing. If two moves are equal, the one that clears covering cards wins.
• Burning the last copy of a rank. Once the final 8 is gone, any remaining 5s have no partner.
• Forgetting the second pass. It is the only other chance to meet cards that did not fit the first time.
• Treating the game as luck. Counting ranks is a skill, and it grows with practice.

Endgame

With few cards left, check every remaining card against its possible partners. If the last two copies of a rank are both buried under cards that need them, the line is dead, and undo is the tool to go back to the choice where it began. A good habit is to look for that choice before the stock runs out.

When only the top rows remain, nearly every card is free, so the order of pairs matters less than whether each card still has a partner. Check this before you take the last pairs of the lower rows.

Checklist before each move

• Is there a free king?
• Is a pair available before I draw?
• Which of two pairs frees more cards?
• How many of each rank are left?
• Am I on the first pass or the second?

Frequently asked questions

Is every Pyramid deal winnable?

Not every random deal. Pool deals are, by the solver’s measure. Our own measurement of random deals gave about 48 percent winnable.

Which pair should I take first?

The pair that frees the most covered cards, unless a rank is about to run out.

Why can’t I pair two touching cards?

A card cannot pair with the card that covers it. Both must be free.

Does the stock matter once the pyramid is clear?

No. The game is won the moment the pyramid is empty.

How many passes through the stock do I get?

Two. The waste turns back into a stock once.

Keep reading

Play Pyramid, read the rules step by step, or look up a term in the glossary. A similar counting game is TriPeaks, and the Klondike strategy guide covers a different kind of planning.