Honestly, most people lose their first ten games of Pyramid Solitaire because they treat it like Klondike. It's a different beast. While your standard Solitaire is about ordering cards, Pyramid is a math game disguised as a card game. You're looking for pairs. Specifically, you're looking for pairs that add up to 13.
It looks simple. You see a big triangular stack of cards and a draw pile. You think, "I'll just clear these out in five minutes." Then you realize you've trapped a Jack under a Seven and the game is effectively over before you've even started. If you want to know how do you play pyramid without getting frustrated every single time, you have to understand the logic of the layout and the "math of 13."
The Setup: Building Your Card Mountain
You need a standard 52-card deck. No Jokers. If you're playing with an old deck, make sure you aren't missing a Five or an Eight, or the math literally won't work and you'll be stuck in a loop of impossible moves.
Start by dealing one card at the top. Below that, overlap two cards. Then three. You keep going until you have a base row of seven cards. This creates a total of 28 cards in the pyramid. The rest of the deck stays face down—that’s your "stock" or draw pile.
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Here’s the thing: only "exposed" cards are playable. An exposed card is one that isn't partially covered by another card. At the very start, only that bottom row of seven cards is available. As you remove pairs, you unlock the cards above them. It’s a bit like a geological excavation; you can’t get to the fossils at the bottom until you clear the dirt on top.
The Magic Number 13
This is the core of the game. You remove cards by pairing them so their combined value equals exactly 13. If you’re rusty on your card values, here is the breakdown:
- Aces are 1.
- Number cards (2-10) are their face value.
- Jacks are 11.
- Queens are 12.
- Kings are 13.
Wait, Kings are 13? Yep. That means Kings are the "free agents" of the game. You don't need to pair a King with anything. You just tap it, and it flies off to the foundation pile. It’s the only card that leaves the board solo. For everything else, you need a partner. A 10 needs a 3. A Jack needs a 2. An Ace needs a Queen.
You can pair two cards from the pyramid itself, or you can pair one card from the pyramid with one card from your draw pile. Sometimes, you might even pair the top card of the draw pile with the top card of the "waste" pile (where your discarded draw cards go).
Why Most People Get Stuck
You see a 6 on the board and a 7 in your hand. You grab them. Great, right?
Maybe not.
If that 7 was covering the only 4 in the game that you needed to unlock a King, you might have just tanked your chances. Pyramid is a game of "what lies beneath." Professional players—yes, there are people who take this very seriously—will often scan the entire pyramid before making a single move.
If you see three 8s buried deep in the left side of the pyramid and only one 5 visible, you are in trouble. You have to be incredibly stingy with your 5s. If you waste a 5 on a draw-pile 8, you might never be able to clear those 8s in the pyramid.
David Parlett, a renowned card game historian and author of The Penguin Book of Card Games, notes that Pyramid belongs to a family of "addition" games that actually date back further than many of the more "ordered" solitaires we play on our phones today. It's built on scarcity.
The Draw Pile Dilemma
How you handle the draw pile (the stock) usually determines if you win. Most digital versions of the game let you go through the stock three times. If you’re playing with physical cards on your kitchen table, you can set your own house rules, but three is the standard for a fair challenge.
When you flip a card from the stock, you have a choice. Pair it with an exposed pyramid card, or put it in the waste pile.
Here’s a pro tip: Don't just look at the card you just flipped. Look at the card under it in the waste pile. Sometimes, by removing the top card of the waste pile, you reveal a card that can pair with something on the board. It’s a chain reaction. If you miss these connections, you're leaving money on the table.
Common Variations and "House Rules"
Not every version of Pyramid is the same. If you’re playing on an app, check the settings. Some versions allow for a "Reserve" or a "Temp" slot. This is a single space where you can park a card to get it out of the way. It makes the game significantly easier.
Another variation is how you handle the waste pile. In "Relaxed Pyramid," you can pair cards from anywhere in the waste pile, not just the top one. Honestly? That feels like cheating. The real tension of the game comes from the fact that once a card is covered in the waste pile, it’s gone until you cycle through the deck again.
Strategy: Think Three Rows Ahead
Don't just clear cards because you can. Clear cards because they open something.
If you have a choice between pairing a 9 in the pyramid with a 4 in the stock, or pairing that same 9 with a 4 already on the board, always choose the one on the board. Your goal is to dismantle the pyramid, not just make pairs. The stock pile is just a tool to help you reach the top of the mountain.
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Also, watch out for "blockers." A blocker is when a card you need is trapped under the card it needs to be paired with. Imagine an Ace is sitting on top of a Queen. You can't get to the Queen until the Ace is gone, but the Ace needs that Queen to leave. In most strict rulesets, this is an "unwinnable" board. If you're playing a digital version, the software usually filters these out, but with a physical deck? Sometimes the cards just hate you.
Getting the Win
You "win" when the entire pyramid is cleared. In some strict versions, you also have to clear the draw pile, but most people just care about the pyramid. It’s a high-variance game. Unlike Spider Solitaire, where skill can overcome almost any deal, Pyramid has a low win rate—often cited as around 1 to 5 percent for a "perfect" player with a random shuffle.
Practical Next Steps for Your Next Game
- Scan for "Dead Ends": Before you start, look for any card that is trapped under its only possible partners. If all four 3s are buried under 10s, you can't win. Shuffle and start over.
- Prioritize the Pyramid: Never use a card from the stock to pair with another stock card unless you absolutely have to. Use stock cards to break down the pyramid rows.
- Count the Kings: They are freebies. Remove them the second they become exposed to clear the way.
- Watch the Eights and Fives: For some reason, these are the cards people lose track of most often. They are the "middle" of the deck and easy to overlook.
The next time someone asks you how do you play pyramid, you can tell them it's not just about matching numbers. It's about managing a limited resource while digging through a pile of cardboard. It’s satisfying, occasionally infuriating, and the perfect way to kill ten minutes while exercising your brain's basic arithmetic.
Grab a deck. Lay out the 28 cards. Focus on the 13s. And for heaven's sake, don't bury your Queens.