Tri Peaks Solitaire rules: the complete guide

Tri Peaks Solitaire at a glance

If you only remember one thing, remember this: every card goes to the same pile, and it has to be one rank away from the card on top. Everything else in Tri Peaks follows from that.

Setting up the game

Shuffle the deck and deal 28 cards in four rows, from the top down:

1. Row 1: three cards, spaced well apart. These are the tops of the three peaks.
2. Row 2: six cards, two under each peak top, each overlapping the bottom half of the card above.
3. Row 3: nine cards, three under each peak. The rows now touch, so the three peaks share their edges.
4. Row 4: ten cards in a single unbroken row along the bottom, overlapping row 3.

Deal rows 1 to 3 (18 cards) face down and the bottom row of 10 face up. Each card above the bottom row is covered by two cards from the row below it.

That leaves 24 cards. Turn the top one face up to start the waste, and put the other 23 face down beside it as the stock.

When face-down cards turn over

A face-down card turns face up the moment both cards covering it are gone. Taking away one of the two isn’t enough. Once a card is face up, nothing is on top of it, so it can be played as soon as it fits. In Tri Peaks “face up” and “free to play” always go together.

Each card in row 3 sits over two neighbors in row 4, so the first card of row 3 waits for the first and second bottom cards, the second waits for the second and third, and so on. Rows 1 and 2 work the same way within each peak.

How to play, step by step

There are no turns. You keep going until the peaks are empty or you run out of moves.

1. Look at the top card of the waste. That’s the card you’re playing on.
2. Play any face-up peak card one rank above or below it. On a 6 you can play a 5 or a 7. Suit and color never matter. The card goes on top of the waste and becomes the new card to play on.
3. Keep playing while you can. Each card you add opens new choices: after a 7, you can play a 6 or an 8, and so on. Cards played one after another without touching the stock form a run.
4. Turn the stock when nothing fits, or whenever you choose. Turn the top stock card face up onto the waste. Now play on that card instead.
5. Win or lose. You win when the last card leaves the peaks, even if the stock still has cards. You lose when the stock is empty and no face-up card fits the waste.

Cards only ever move one way: from the peaks or the stock onto the waste. Nothing comes back off the waste, and nothing is ever placed on the peaks.

What can go on what

The ranks run in order from Ace to King. With the usual wrap rule they also loop around, so the King and the Ace are neighbors.

Two cards of the same rank never connect. A 7 can’t go on a 7, so if both your face-up cards are 7s and the waste is a 7, you’ll need the stock.

A worked example: one long run

Here is a bottom row at the start of a game, numbered left to right, with the 8♦ on the waste.

Two cards fit the 8♦: the 9♦ and the 7♥. Before playing either, follow each one forward:

• Starting with the 7♥ and going down: 6♠, then nothing, since no 5 is showing. That’s 2 cards.
• Starting with the 7♥ and going up: 8♣, 9♦, then nothing, since no 10 is showing. That’s 3 cards.
• Starting with the 9♦: with no 10 showing, it can only come back down: 8♣, 7♥, 6♠. That’s 4 cards, the longest line in sight.

1. Play the 9♦, 8♣, 7♥ and 6♠. The 9♦ (position 2) and the 6♠ (position 3) were both covering the second card of row 3, so it turns face up. Say it’s the 5♥.
2. The 5♥ fits the 6♠. Play it, and the run keeps going.
3. Play the 4♣ from position 1. Positions 1 and 2 are now both empty, so the first card of row 3 turns over. Say it’s the 10♠, which doesn’t fit a 4.
4. Play the 3♦ from position 8. The 8♣ next to it (position 9) is already gone, so the eighth card of row 3 turns over too. Say it’s the J♥. Nothing fits a 3 now, so the run ends at seven cards.
5. Turn the stock. The next card you play starts a new run, back at 10 points.

Look at what the plan bought. Going down through the 8♣ took the longest line you could see, and it turned over three hidden cards on the way. One of them, the 5♥, kept the run alive for three more plays: the 5♥ itself, then the 4♣ and the 3♦. Going up from the 7♥ instead would have stopped at the 9♦ after three cards, without turning anything over.

Turning the stock

The stock is your safety net, but it’s limited. There are 23 cards in it and no second pass, so every card you turn is a chance spent.

• Turning a stock card ends your run. The next card you play from the peaks starts a new run at the bottom of the scale.
• You’re never forced to play. Even when a card fits, you may turn the stock instead. It’s rarely a good idea, but the rules allow it.
• Stock cards aren’t played onto the peaks. The turned card simply becomes the new top of the waste.
• When the stock is empty, the game goes on until nothing fits. You can still play from the peaks onto the last stock card and keep going as long as the run lasts.

Tri Peaks scoring

Tri Peaks with real cards needs no score: you cleared the peaks or you didn’t. Computer versions score it in different ways. This is the system BieGames uses:

The run count is what makes the score climb. Here’s how one run adds up:

Scoring the example above. The seven-card run is worth 10 + 20 + 30 + 40 + 50 + 60 + 70 = 280 points. If a turn of the stock had split the same seven cards into runs of four and three, they would have scored only 100 + 60 = 160.

Scoring a whole win. Say you clear the peaks in five runs of 8, 6, 5, 5 and 4 cards, with 6 cards still in the stock. The runs are worth 360 + 210 + 150 + 150 + 100 = 970. The three peaks add 750, clearing them adds 500, and the six stock cards add 300, for a total of 2,520.

Two ideas follow. First, length matters more than count: ten cards in one run score 550, but in two runs of five they score only 300. Second, a fast win pays. Every stock card you leave unturned is worth 50 points at the end.

Rule questions people ask

Can you play a card that’s partly covered? No. A card is only in play once both cards overlapping it are gone, and at that point it’s face up anyway.

Can you play two cards of the same rank in a row? No. Neighbors have to be one rank apart. You can, however, play a 9 on an 8 and then an 8 on that 9, so the same rank can appear twice in a run with another card between.

Can a card go back from the waste to the peaks? No. The waste only grows, and only its top card counts.

Do you have to clear the stock? No. Clearing the 28 peak cards is the win. Cards left in the stock simply add to your score here.

Do the peaks have to be cleared in order? No. You can work on any of them at any time, and the bottom row belongs to all three. Most games end up moving back and forth between them.

Can a card block itself? Yes. Say a 7 is lying on top of a face-down 8, and every 6 and every other 8 has already been played. The 7 can only leave on a 6 or an 8, and the 8 under it can’t come out until the 7 is gone, so the 7 is stuck for good.

Can a deal be impossible from the start? Yes. If the stock doesn’t bring up the right ranks at the right moments, no amount of skill will clear the peaks. That’s why BieGames offers winnable deals.

Does the first waste card count as a stock card? It comes from the deal, not from a turn of the stock, so it doesn’t end anything. The stock starts with 23 cards.

Common variations

• No wrap. King and Ace don’t connect, as in strict Golf. Kings and Aces become harder to clear because each has only one neighbor.
• All cards face up. The whole layout is dealt face up, which turns the game into a puzzle you can plan from the first move.
• Betting-style scoring. Some computer versions score in dollars: $1 for the first card in a run, $2 for the second and so on, $5 charged for every card dealt from the stock, and bonuses for clearing peaks ($15 for each of the first two and $30 for the last). A game can lose money even when you play well.
• Wild cards. A few versions add a wild card that can go on anything, which makes the peaks easier to clear.
• Golf. The game Tri Peaks borrows its rule from. Golf deals seven face-up columns of five cards, and you play the bottom card of any column one rank up or down onto the waste.

If you like this kind of game, Pyramid Solitaire also clears a triangle of cards, by pairing cards that add up to 13. Our roundup of card games to play alone compares Klondike, FreeCell, Spider and Pyramid.

Playing Tri Peaks on BieGames

You can play right now on the Tri Peaks Solitaire page. Two options are in Settings:

• King–Ace wrap: On (the default) or Off.
• Deals: Winnable deals only, where a solver checks every shuffle before you see it, or Any deal, just as a real shuffle falls.

The other rules are fixed and match this page: 28 cards in three peaks, a 23-card stock turned one card at a time with no redeal, and a win as soon as the peaks are clear. Undo is unlimited. Hint only looks at the cards you can see, never at face-down cards or the stock. The daily deal is always winnable.

Tri Peaks terms

• Peaks: the 28 cards in the layout, in three overlapping triangles with a shared bottom row.
• Peak top: the single card at the top of each peak. Playing it clears that peak.
• Face-down card: a peak card that is still covered. It turns face up when both cards on it are gone.
• Waste (also called the foundation or discard pile): the face-up pile every card is played onto. Only its top card counts.
• Stock: the 23 face-down cards left after the deal, turned onto the waste one at a time.
• Run (also called a streak or chain): cards played from the peaks one after another without turning the stock.
• Wrap: the rule that makes King and Ace neighbors.

Quick questions about the rules

How many cards are in the stock in Tri Peaks? 23 after the first card is turned to start the waste, or 24 counting that card.

Can you put a King on an Ace? Yes with wrap, which most versions use. No without it.

Is Tri Peaks harder than Pyramid? They’re both quick, and both have deals you can’t win. In Tri Peaks most cards start face down, so you plan with less information. In Pyramid every card is visible, but each card needs one exact partner.

How long does a game take? Usually three to five minutes. A good run can clear half the peaks in one go.