Pyramid solitaire is a innovative and new way to play solitaire which is gaining popularity.

Requirements/statistics

Space: Moderate

Level: Challenging

Cards: One standard 52-card deck

Players: One

Layout

A pyramid of cards is created, consisting of 21 cards formed from six overlapping rows. Each card in the top five rows are blocked by two cards in the row beneath. Both of these cards must be discarded before releasing the card above, making it available for play.

The seven exposed cards in the bottom row of the pyramid are available for play immediately. Six cards are dealt to a reserve below the pyramid, each card of which is available for play.

Your layout should resemble the image below:

Play

Cards are turned from the stock one card at a time. If the card cannot be paired with another available card, it is discarded to a waste pile, the top exposed card of which is always available for pairing.

At any time, any pair of available cards that total 13, or single exposed kings may be transferred to the discard pile. Available cards are any cards that are completely exposed and include any of the six reserve cards, the last card turned from the stock, the top card of the waste pile and any completely uncovered card in the pyramid.

Only the six cards in the bottom row of the pyramid are available at the start of the game, and as they are removed, they make cards higher up in the pyramid available. For a pyramid card to be available, it must be completely exposed by removing the two cards covering it. When the stock has been exhausted and no more pairs of 13 can be found, the game is over.

How to win

Pairs of exposed cards that total 13 are removed and placed in a single discard pile at the top left of the play area. The object of the game is to discard all 52 cards, which demolishes the pyramid in the process.