Pyramid Solitaire Beginner Tips: Pairs That Make 13, Free Cards, Redeals and the Score (2026)

Last updated: October 5, 2026 · Tested on Playnesta's Pyramid Solitaire build (MIT ES-module engine by muzsor @ 13ce580c) · Goal: clear all 28 pyramid cards

Method: every rule and number below was read from this site's playable build and then re-checked in a headless browser. From the shipped code: one 52-card deck is dealt into a pyramid of seven rows — 1+2+3+4+5+6+7 = 28 cards, all face-up — plus a 24-card stock and an empty waste pile; a pyramid card is free only when both cards diagonally below it are gone, so exactly seven cards are free at the start; two free cards are removed when their ranks add to 13 (A=1, J=11, Q=12), and a King is 13, so it clears on its own; the top waste card counts as free; a pair pays 10 points and a lone King 5; the stock is drawn one card at a time and the waste can be dealt back into it up to the chosen limit — unlimited, 2 (the default) or 0; undo is kept for up to 500 steps in the session, hints rank a legal move, and there is no loss screen (a stuck board is answered with undo or a new deal). The headless run passed 30/30 checks: a clean start with zero console errors and zero external requests, 28 one-card slots with the bottom row of 7 free and 24 in the stock, a real mouse click that selected a card and a second click that removed a 10+3 pair for +10 with moves going 0 to 1, the real Undo button restoring it, a free King clearing for +5, drawing all 24 cards into the waste and dealing them back twice with the third redeal refused at the standard limit, a hint highlighting a legal move, a 390px viewport with no horizontal scroll where all 52 cards stay on screen and a real touch tap selects a card, and the same-origin iframe bridge emitting load / start / win / restart / 60s.

1. Read the pyramid before you touch a card

Twenty-eight cards, all face-up, and exactly seven of them free: the bottom row. Nothing else can be picked up yet, because a pyramid card only becomes free once both cards diagonally below it are gone. That single rule defines the whole game — every card you clear is simultaneously a new card unlocked one row above it, and every row you finish frees the row above.

So the first minute is not a move, it is a read down the rows. Find the four Kings (each clears alone for 5 points), find the Queens and Aces, and note which of the bottom-row cards can only be used with one specific partner. A card whose only partner is another bottom-row card you also need is a deadlock risk; a card whose partner sits in the stock is a resource you have not drawn yet.

2. Two cards make thirteen — and a King makes thirteen alone

The only legal removal is a pair of free cards whose ranks sum to 13: A+Q, 2+J, 3+10, 4+9, 5+8, 6+7 — and a King alone, because K is 13. Numbers are their face value, A is 1, J is 11 and Q is 12; suits are irrelevant and never have to match. A pair scores 10 points, a King scores 5, and the score never goes down.

The King is the card most players mishandle, in both directions. First, a King must be taken alone: you never need a second card for it, so a free King is a free move and should usually go early, because it is the only removal that does not consume a partner another card was waiting for. Second, the reverse mistake: do not sit on a lone King while you hunt for a "better" pair. A King that is still sitting on the pyramid is blocking the two cards under it from ever becoming free.

3. The waste is a free card, not a discard bin

When the pyramid offers no legal pair, you draw one card from the stock to the waste pile — and the top waste card counts as free, so it can pair with any free pyramid card. It cannot pair with the card under it (that card is buried), and it cannot be used twice, so a waste card is a one-shot partner.

That changes how you draw. Drawing is not a passive stall; it is how you manufacture the partner the pyramid is missing. Before you draw, note the ranks you are short of, then watch the waste for exactly those ranks and take the pair the moment it appears. A waste card that could have paired and was covered up by the next draw is a card you threw away, and the pyramid does not give it back until a redeal.

4. Redeals are your one real resource

When the stock runs out you can deal the whole waste back into it as a fresh stock, and how many times you may do that is the difficulty setting: unlimited, two (the default) or none. On the default you get three full passes through the deck — the first draw plus two redeals — and after that an exhausted stock stays exhausted.

Two consequences. First, choose the setting before the deal, not after you are stuck: no-redeal is the genuinely hard mode, unlimited is the calm one, and the two-redeal default is the version almost everyone recognizes. Second, budget the passes. Spending your last redeal to rescue one card when three rows still sit untouched is usually wrong: with unlimited redeals you can always cycle back to a card, but with a fixed count the pyramid has to come down inside the passes you have.

5. Clear from the bottom up and plan two rows ahead

Because a card frees only when both diagonal neighbours are gone, the pyramid comes down row by row from the bottom, and the cards that matter most are the ones one and two rows up. Before taking a bottom-row pair, look at what it unlocks: clearing two adjacent bottom cards frees the card between and above them, and clearing a whole row exposes the row above it in one go.

The practical habit is to keep the bottom row shallow rather than empty, so you always have a partner in hand for a newly exposed card. When a free card has exactly one partner left in the whole board, clear it early while the partner is still reachable; when a card has three or four possible partners, it is safe to leave. The endgame is the exception — with a couple of rows left, take the pair that empties the most of the top row, because the last cards of the pyramid often have only one legal partner each.

6. Undo and hints are free — and a stuck board is not a loss

Undo is kept for up to 500 steps in the session. That makes pyramid a game of controlled experiment: take the pair that looks best, and if it traps a card you needed, undo and try the other order. Nothing about the score punishes a wrong pair — you only lose the pair's 10 points if you undo it, and the board is otherwise restored exactly.

The hint button highlights one legal move, which is the fastest way to answer "is this board still alive?". And the honest answer is sometimes no: with a fixed redeal count the pyramid can genuinely run out of legal pairs, and this build has no loss screen for it. A stuck board is answered with undo, or with a new deal, which is one button away.

FAQ

How do you play pyramid solitaire?

Deal a 52-card deck into a 28-card pyramid of seven rows, all face-up, with the other 24 cards in the stock. Remove pairs of free cards whose ranks add up to 13 (A=1, J=11, Q=12); a King is 13 and clears alone. A card is free only when both cards diagonally below it are gone, so the seven bottom-row cards are free at the start, and the top waste card is free too. Draw from the stock when no pair remains, redeal the waste when the stock empties, and clear all 28 pyramid cards to win.

Which cards add up to 13?

Ace + Queen, 2 + Jack, 3 + 10, 4 + 9, 5 + 8 and 6 + 7. A King is worth 13 and is removed by itself. Suits never matter, so a 5 of hearts pairs with an 8 of spades exactly as well as with an 8 of hearts.

What is a free card in pyramid solitaire?

A pyramid card with no cards resting on it. Concretely: a card is free only when both cards diagonally below it have already been removed. At the start that is exactly the seven cards of the bottom row. Cards in the waste pile also count as free, from the top of the pile only.

What happens when you cannot make a move?

If the pyramid has no legal pair, draw a card from the stock to the waste pile and the new top waste card becomes available as a partner. When the stock is empty you may deal the entire waste back into the stock and go through it again, up to the redeal limit you chose. If the stock is empty, the redeal limit is used up and no pair is left, the board is stuck — undo a decision or start a new deal.

How does scoring work?

Each pair you remove scores 10 points and each lone King scores 5. There is no time penalty inside the score, and the timer is there for your own reference. Undoing a removal takes those points back and restores the board, so the score is always an honest count of what is actually cleared.

How many redeals should I use?

Two redeals is the standard version most people recognise and the default here; unlimited redeals is the easy mode, and no redeal is the hard one. If you are learning the game, play unlimited first so you can always revisit a card — then switch to two and you will feel exactly where the passes are going.

Is every pyramid solitaire deal winnable?

No, and this build does not pretend otherwise. The initial layout can leave two low cards that only pair with each other buried under the same pair of blockers, and with a finite redeal count that can genuinely strand the pyramid. That is why there is no loss screen: the game lets you undo or start a new deal instead of ending the session.

Does it work on a phone, and does it save my progress?

Yes to the phone: the board is drawn to fit a 390px screen with no page scrolling sideways, all 52 cards stay visible, and a tap runs the same code path as a mouse click — tap one free card, then the second, or drag one onto the other. The deal itself is not saved between visits: every time you open the page you get a fresh 52-card deal. Undo history lasts for the session, so keep the tab open if you want to step back through your moves.

Where can I play it?

Right on this site's pyramid-solitaire page. It is built on the MIT-licensed ES-module solitaire collection by muzsor (commit 13ce580c); the cards are DOM elements and Unicode suit symbols rather than image files, and the license and attribution are listed under the game.