Solitaire Arcade
Learn how to play Pyramid Solitaire: the seven-row layout, pairs that sum to 13, King removals, stock and redeals, and Easy / Medium / Hard modes.
Pyramid Solitaire is built on one idea: remove cards in pairs that add up to 13. The hard part is the layout. Most cards start covered by the ones below them, so the right pair is often the one that opens the board, not the first match you spot.
Kings are the exception. A King is already worth 13, so it can leave alone. On Solitaire Arcade you win by clearing all 28 pyramid cards. Stock and waste leftovers are fine.
One 52-card deck: 28 cards face-up in seven overlapping rows, 24 in the stock. You are not building sequences or dragging stacks around like Klondike, FreeCell, or Spider. Cards stay put until they are free to remove.
It is a matching game with a catch: every removal changes what becomes available next. To see how it sits next to the other games on the site, read Types of Solitaire Games.
Empty the pyramid. Pair two available cards that total 13, or remove an available King by itself. The moment the pyramid is clear, you win, even if stock or waste cards remain. That is a relaxed Pyramid win condition: clear the pyramid, not the whole deck.
Seven rows form the pyramid: 1 card on top, then 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 across the bottom (28 cards total). The other 24 cards are the stock.
Everything in the pyramid is dealt face-up, but face-up does not mean free. Upper rows stay blocked by overlapping cards below. At the start, only the seven bottom-row cards are exposed.
Number cards use face value. Ace is 1, Jack is 11, Queen is 12, King is 13.
The pairs are Ace and Queen, 2 and Jack, 3 and 10, 4 and 9, 5 and 8, and 6 and 7. Kings remove alone. Suits never matter: any 6 can pair with any available 7.
After a few hands you stop calculating and just see the matches. For a deeper look at each combination, see Pyramid Solitaire Pairs: What Cards Add Up to 13?.
A pyramid card is available only when nothing covers it. Above the bottom row, that usually means both cards from the row beneath must already be gone. Seeing a face is not enough.
You can also use the top waste card. Stock cards stay unavailable until drawn. Only the top waste card is live; anything buried under it waits for another pass or redeal.
At any moment your options are exposed pyramid cards plus the top waste card. If stock, waste, and tableau jargon is new, Solitaire Terms Explained covers the shared language on Solitaire Arcade.
Two removal types. Pair: select two available cards that add to 13 (two exposed pyramid cards, or one pyramid card plus the top waste). You cannot pair two waste cards. King: remove any available King alone, whether it sits exposed in the pyramid or on top of the waste.
Clearing pyramid cards can free the ones above them and open the next set of moves.
A typical cycle looks like this.
Look for exposed Kings first. Removing a pyramid King can also uncover cards higher up.
Then hunt pairs among exposed pyramid cards. When several pairs are open, ask what each removal exposes before you tap the first one you see.
Check the waste. The top waste card can pair with any exposed pyramid card that brings the total to 13 (waste 5 with an open 8, for example).
Draw when you need a new waste card. Drawing only flips the next stock card onto the waste; it does not auto-remove Kings or matches. You still select those yourself.
Keep opening the pyramid. Useful removals climb toward the peak. When your mode allows, redeal the waste into stock after a full pass and work through those cards again.
Easy, Medium, and Hard share the same matching rules, layout, scoring, and win condition. What changes is how many times you can work through the stock.
Easy (unlimited passes): You can recycle waste into stock again and again. One limit: if you finish a full stock pass with no King or pair removed, and still have no legal move when the stock is empty, the game ends even though redeals remain. If you did remove something earlier in that pass, emptying the leftover stock alone is not an automatic loss.
Medium (3 passes): The initial traversal, then two redeals. After the third traversal, the stock cannot be recycled again. Enough room to plan, not unlimited retries.
Hard (1 pass): One traversal, no redeals. Once a stock card is buried under later draws, you will not see it again unless you used it. Stock timing matters most here.
You win when all 28 pyramid cards are gone. Stock and waste do not need to be empty.
A stalemate hits when pyramid cards remain, no legal King or pair exists, and the stock is empty with no further progress. In Hard that can arrive after the first traversal. Medium gives two redeals before stock exhaustion is final. In Easy, unlimited redeals still lose on a full pass with no removals and no legal move at empty stock; a removal earlier in that pass means emptying the rest of the stock alone does not end the game.
Even with every rule clear, layouts can trap the partners you need behind each other, and stock order can make some deals much harsher than others. More on that in Why Is Pyramid Solitaire So Hard? How Winnable Is It?.
Pick Easy, Medium, or Hard, then select exposed pyramid cards or the top waste card for legal pairs and Kings. Controls include Undo, Hint, Pause, New (leave for a fresh mode choice), and End. Time, moves, and score are tracked, with best score and best time stored separately per difficulty so Easy and Hard results stay comparable within the same stock limits.
Prioritise removals that open the pyramid. When several pairs are available, favour the one that exposes a useful card higher up.
Check the current waste before drawing again. Each draw buries the previous waste card, and that sting is sharper in Medium and Hard. A pyramid King that uncovers something usually beats a waste King that changes nothing on the board.
Those are beginner habits. For scarce partners, both sides of the pyramid, stock timing, and spotting the card that stalls a deal, see Pyramid Solitaire Strategy: How to Win More Games.
Taking the first pair without checking what it opens. Forgetting that both blockers must leave before a higher card is free. Drawing too quickly and burying a waste card you could have used. Trying to pair two waste cards (only the top waste card is live, and it must pair with an exposed pyramid card). Expecting a draw to auto-match. Ignoring your mode: a casual draw in Easy can be expensive in Hard.
What cards add up to 13 in Pyramid Solitaire?
Ace and Queen, 2 and Jack, 3 and 10, 4 and 9, 5 and 8, and 6 and 7. Kings remove alone.
Do suits matter?
No. Only values matter.
Can I remove a King by itself?
Yes. Any available King can leave without a partner.
Can I pair two cards from the waste?
No. Only the top waste card is available, and it pairs with an exposed pyramid card.
Can I use a card that is still in the stock?
No. Draw it to the waste first.
Do cards automatically disappear when I draw a match?
No. Drawing only moves a card to the waste. You still make the removal.
How many times can I go through the stock?
Easy: unlimited. Medium: three complete traversals. Hard: one.
Do I need to clear the stock to win?
No. Empty the pyramid and you win.
Which Pyramid mode should I start with?
Easy is the most forgiving. Medium keeps the same rules with three traversals. Hard is one pass and puts pressure on every stock choice.
If you are deciding which solitaire game suits you more generally, see Which Solitaire Game Should You Play?.
Pyramid is easy to understand: find 13, remove the cards, climb toward the peak. Winning more often takes a little more thought about order, which pairs you save, and how hard you lean on the stock.
Choose Easy, Medium, or Hard and play Pyramid Solitaire on Solitaire Arcade.
Pyramid Solitaire is easy to understand, but choosing the first available pair is rarely the best strategy. Learn how to expose useful cards, manage the stock, protect scarce matches, and give yourself a better chance of clearing the pyramid.
Pyramid Solitaire looks simple: find pairs that add up to 13 and clear the pyramid. In practice, blocked cards, limited matching partners and the order of the stock can make a deal difficult—or sometimes impossible—before you realise it.
Pyramid Solitaire is built around one simple rule: remove cards that add up to 13. Learn every valid pair, how Kings work, why suits do not matter, and how to make better pairing decisions once several matches are available.
Solitaire Arcade
Learn how to play Pyramid Solitaire: the seven-row layout, pairs that sum to 13, King removals, stock and redeals, and Easy / Medium / Hard modes.
Pyramid Solitaire is built on one idea: remove cards in pairs that add up to 13. The hard part is the layout. Most cards start covered by the ones below them, so the right pair is often the one that opens the board, not the first match you spot.
Kings are the exception. A King is already worth 13, so it can leave alone. On Solitaire Arcade you win by clearing all 28 pyramid cards. Stock and waste leftovers are fine.
One 52-card deck: 28 cards face-up in seven overlapping rows, 24 in the stock. You are not building sequences or dragging stacks around like Klondike, FreeCell, or Spider. Cards stay put until they are free to remove.
It is a matching game with a catch: every removal changes what becomes available next. To see how it sits next to the other games on the site, read Types of Solitaire Games.
Empty the pyramid. Pair two available cards that total 13, or remove an available King by itself. The moment the pyramid is clear, you win, even if stock or waste cards remain. That is a relaxed Pyramid win condition: clear the pyramid, not the whole deck.
Seven rows form the pyramid: 1 card on top, then 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 across the bottom (28 cards total). The other 24 cards are the stock.
Everything in the pyramid is dealt face-up, but face-up does not mean free. Upper rows stay blocked by overlapping cards below. At the start, only the seven bottom-row cards are exposed.
Number cards use face value. Ace is 1, Jack is 11, Queen is 12, King is 13.
The pairs are Ace and Queen, 2 and Jack, 3 and 10, 4 and 9, 5 and 8, and 6 and 7. Kings remove alone. Suits never matter: any 6 can pair with any available 7.
After a few hands you stop calculating and just see the matches. For a deeper look at each combination, see Pyramid Solitaire Pairs: What Cards Add Up to 13?.
A pyramid card is available only when nothing covers it. Above the bottom row, that usually means both cards from the row beneath must already be gone. Seeing a face is not enough.
You can also use the top waste card. Stock cards stay unavailable until drawn. Only the top waste card is live; anything buried under it waits for another pass or redeal.
At any moment your options are exposed pyramid cards plus the top waste card. If stock, waste, and tableau jargon is new, Solitaire Terms Explained covers the shared language on Solitaire Arcade.
Two removal types. Pair: select two available cards that add to 13 (two exposed pyramid cards, or one pyramid card plus the top waste). You cannot pair two waste cards. King: remove any available King alone, whether it sits exposed in the pyramid or on top of the waste.
Clearing pyramid cards can free the ones above them and open the next set of moves.
A typical cycle looks like this.
Look for exposed Kings first. Removing a pyramid King can also uncover cards higher up.
Then hunt pairs among exposed pyramid cards. When several pairs are open, ask what each removal exposes before you tap the first one you see.
Check the waste. The top waste card can pair with any exposed pyramid card that brings the total to 13 (waste 5 with an open 8, for example).
Draw when you need a new waste card. Drawing only flips the next stock card onto the waste; it does not auto-remove Kings or matches. You still select those yourself.
Keep opening the pyramid. Useful removals climb toward the peak. When your mode allows, redeal the waste into stock after a full pass and work through those cards again.
Easy, Medium, and Hard share the same matching rules, layout, scoring, and win condition. What changes is how many times you can work through the stock.
Easy (unlimited passes): You can recycle waste into stock again and again. One limit: if you finish a full stock pass with no King or pair removed, and still have no legal move when the stock is empty, the game ends even though redeals remain. If you did remove something earlier in that pass, emptying the leftover stock alone is not an automatic loss.
Medium (3 passes): The initial traversal, then two redeals. After the third traversal, the stock cannot be recycled again. Enough room to plan, not unlimited retries.
Hard (1 pass): One traversal, no redeals. Once a stock card is buried under later draws, you will not see it again unless you used it. Stock timing matters most here.
You win when all 28 pyramid cards are gone. Stock and waste do not need to be empty.
A stalemate hits when pyramid cards remain, no legal King or pair exists, and the stock is empty with no further progress. In Hard that can arrive after the first traversal. Medium gives two redeals before stock exhaustion is final. In Easy, unlimited redeals still lose on a full pass with no removals and no legal move at empty stock; a removal earlier in that pass means emptying the rest of the stock alone does not end the game.
Even with every rule clear, layouts can trap the partners you need behind each other, and stock order can make some deals much harsher than others. More on that in Why Is Pyramid Solitaire So Hard? How Winnable Is It?.
Pick Easy, Medium, or Hard, then select exposed pyramid cards or the top waste card for legal pairs and Kings. Controls include Undo, Hint, Pause, New (leave for a fresh mode choice), and End. Time, moves, and score are tracked, with best score and best time stored separately per difficulty so Easy and Hard results stay comparable within the same stock limits.
Prioritise removals that open the pyramid. When several pairs are available, favour the one that exposes a useful card higher up.
Check the current waste before drawing again. Each draw buries the previous waste card, and that sting is sharper in Medium and Hard. A pyramid King that uncovers something usually beats a waste King that changes nothing on the board.
Those are beginner habits. For scarce partners, both sides of the pyramid, stock timing, and spotting the card that stalls a deal, see Pyramid Solitaire Strategy: How to Win More Games.
Taking the first pair without checking what it opens. Forgetting that both blockers must leave before a higher card is free. Drawing too quickly and burying a waste card you could have used. Trying to pair two waste cards (only the top waste card is live, and it must pair with an exposed pyramid card). Expecting a draw to auto-match. Ignoring your mode: a casual draw in Easy can be expensive in Hard.
What cards add up to 13 in Pyramid Solitaire?
Ace and Queen, 2 and Jack, 3 and 10, 4 and 9, 5 and 8, and 6 and 7. Kings remove alone.
Do suits matter?
No. Only values matter.
Can I remove a King by itself?
Yes. Any available King can leave without a partner.
Can I pair two cards from the waste?
No. Only the top waste card is available, and it pairs with an exposed pyramid card.
Can I use a card that is still in the stock?
No. Draw it to the waste first.
Do cards automatically disappear when I draw a match?
No. Drawing only moves a card to the waste. You still make the removal.
How many times can I go through the stock?
Easy: unlimited. Medium: three complete traversals. Hard: one.
Do I need to clear the stock to win?
No. Empty the pyramid and you win.
Which Pyramid mode should I start with?
Easy is the most forgiving. Medium keeps the same rules with three traversals. Hard is one pass and puts pressure on every stock choice.
If you are deciding which solitaire game suits you more generally, see Which Solitaire Game Should You Play?.
Pyramid is easy to understand: find 13, remove the cards, climb toward the peak. Winning more often takes a little more thought about order, which pairs you save, and how hard you lean on the stock.
Choose Easy, Medium, or Hard and play Pyramid Solitaire on Solitaire Arcade.
Pyramid Solitaire is easy to understand, but choosing the first available pair is rarely the best strategy. Learn how to expose useful cards, manage the stock, protect scarce matches, and give yourself a better chance of clearing the pyramid.
Pyramid Solitaire looks simple: find pairs that add up to 13 and clear the pyramid. In practice, blocked cards, limited matching partners and the order of the stock can make a deal difficult—or sometimes impossible—before you realise it.
Pyramid Solitaire is built around one simple rule: remove cards that add up to 13. Learn every valid pair, how Kings work, why suits do not matter, and how to make better pairing decisions once several matches are available.
