TriPeaks Solitaire
TriPeaks is a fast, forgiving game with a small set of rules. Three overlapping peaks of cards stand on the table, and you clear them by playing cards that sit one rank above or below the card on the waste pile. A good run of plays clears a whole peak without a single draw, and that feeling of momentum is the whole charm.
Rules step by step
- The layout. 28 cards form three peaks, laid out as three overlapping pyramids that share the bottom row. The other 24 cards are the stock. At the deal, the first stock card is turned onto the waste pile.
- Free cards. A peak card is free when no card covers it. At the start only the bottom row is free.
- Play a card. Move a free peak card to the waste pile if its rank is exactly one higher or one lower than the card on top of the waste. Suits and colors do not matter. A 7 can go on a 6 or an 8.
- Ace and king wrap around. A king can be played on an ace, and an ace on a king, so ranks form a circle.
- Draw when you are stuck. If no free card fits, click the stock to turn the next card onto the waste. That card is the new target. There is no way to turn the waste back into a stock.
- Uncover new cards. Each card you remove from a peak may free the cards that were under it.
- Win when all 28 peak cards are cleared. The game ends when the stock is empty and no free peak card matches the waste.
The page tracks your current and best streak: peak cards cleared in a row without drawing.
Strategy
- Look at the whole row before you play. At any moment several free cards may fit. Pick the one that uncovers new cards, not the one that is closest.
- Think in chains. With a 6 on the waste and a 5 and a 7 both free, one choice leads to a 4 or 6 next, the other to a 6 or 8. Pick the branch that can continue, and check which of the two uncovers a new card.
- Save the draw. After the deal only 23 stock cards remain, and each draw spends one. If a free card fits, take it before you draw.
- Go for the cards that hide others. Removing a card that covers two neighbors is worth more than taking the nearest rank.
- Use the wrap. Aces and kings join the top and the bottom of the ranks, so a run can turn the corner, as in Q, K, A, 2.
- Watch what is left. If every remaining 9 and jack is buried under cards you cannot reach, a 10 on the waste leads nowhere. Keep track of which ranks are still buried.
Frequently asked questions
Is every TriPeaks deal winnable?
The default deals come from a pool that an offline solver has checked, and for each deal it found a line that clears all three peaks. The solver knows the order of the stock and you do not. A deal that does not come from the pool is labelled as not checked. Pool deals lean toward easier wins than a random shuffle, because only deals the solver could finish are kept.
Can I turn the waste pile back over?
No. TriPeaks has a single pass through the stock.
Do suits matter?
No, only ranks. Colors and suits are irrelevant, which is why the game is so quick to learn.
Can I go up and down in the same run?
Yes. Each play only has to be one rank from the waste top. You may go 6, 7, 6, 5.
Can I undo a move?
Yes, without limit, and redo too.
Related games
If you enjoy clearing cards by rank, Pyramid uses addition instead, pairing cards to make 13. For a deeper game of planning, try FreeCell or Spider, or play Klondike. All the rules can be found at how to play, and the shared deals of the day are on the daily page.
Deal pool facts
Counted from this game's deal files when the site is built. The about page explains how the pool is made.
- Deals in the pool
- 1,500, each with a stored winning line that the site's tests replay through the game rules
- Shuffles with a win found
- 1,500 of the first 1,535 tried, or 97.7 percent
- Median winning line
- 49 steps
- Middle half of winning lines
- 46 to 50 steps
- Daily deal
- Chosen in advance for each UTC date from a fixed shuffle of the pool. So far 400 days are scheduled, using 400 different deals.
A step is one move as the solver counts it, so the move counter on the table can show a lower number for the same line. These are the lines the solver found, and shorter wins may exist. Shuffles without a win inside the solver's limits were left out.