Guide
How to Play Pyramid Solitaire
Pyramid Solitaire is a short clearing game built around one number: 13. Instead of arranging columns or building foundations, you remove uncovered cards in pairs whose values total 13. Kings are worth 13 by themselves, so an uncovered King leaves the table immediately.
The puzzle is not simply finding pairs. Every removal changes which cards are uncovered next, so the strongest pair is often the one that frees two useful cards rather than the first match you notice.
How Pyramid Solitaire is set up
A standard 52-card deck is dealt into seven overlapping rows. The top row contains one card, the second contains two, and each row adds one more card until the seven-card base. Those rows use 28 cards. The remaining 24 cards form a face-down stock beside a face-up waste pile.
Each card above the base is covered by two cards in the row below. A pyramid card becomes playable only after both covering cards have been removed. Cards in the base row start uncovered because nothing rests on top of them.
- Pyramid: 28 cards arranged in seven overlapping rows.
- Stock: 24 cards available one at a time, with no redeal on the OPKA table.
- Waste: only its top card can pair with an uncovered pyramid card.
- Removed pile: cleared cards leave play and do not return.
Pairs that total 13
Aces count as 1, numbered cards use their printed value, Jacks count as 11, Queens as 12, and Kings as 13. The legal pairs are Queen with Ace, Jack with 2, 10 with 3, 9 with 4, 8 with 5, and 7 with 6. An uncovered King is removed alone.
Both cards must be playable at the same time. Two pyramid cards can pair when both are fully uncovered, and the top waste card can pair with one uncovered pyramid card. A visible card that still has either covering card in place cannot be selected for a legal pair.
Stock, waste and the one-pass rule
When the pyramid offers no useful pair, turn one stock card onto the waste. The new top waste card may pair with an uncovered pyramid card or leave the table alone if it is a King. Cards below the waste top remain unavailable.
The OPKA table allows one pass through the stock. There is no recycle after the 24th draw, which makes stock timing part of the puzzle. The round becomes stuck when the stock is empty and no King or 13-sum pair remains available.
How to win
You win as soon as all 28 pyramid cards are removed. Stock or waste cards may remain when the last pyramid card leaves the table; clearing the draw piles is not required.
Work from the exposed base toward the apex, but compare available pairs before committing. A removal that uncovers two cards creates more future choices than one that only clears space beneath a card already free on its other side.