- Which cards add up to thirteen in Pyramid?
- Ace and queen, two and jack, three and ten, four and nine, five and eight, and six and seven. An ace counts 1, a jack 11 and a queen 12. A king is 13 on its own, so it is removed by itself.
- Which cards can you use in Pyramid?
- Only free cards: cards with nothing lying on them. At the start that means the bottom row of seven, and a card higher up becomes free once both cards covering it have gone. The top card of the waste pile is free too.
- Can a card be paired with a card it is covering?
- No. The card underneath is not free until the one on top of it has gone, so the two can never be taken together. A six lying on a seven needs a different seven, which is exactly the kind of trap that ends a game several moves later.
- How many times can you go through the stock?
- That depends on the version you play: once, twice or three times. One pass is the classic game and the hardest. The table here lets you choose, and starts at three.
- Can you pair a card from the stock with a pyramid card?
- Yes. Cards are turned from the stock one at a time onto the waste pile, and the top card of the waste is free. It can be paired with a free card in the pyramid, and when it goes, the card under it on the waste becomes free in turn.
- Do you have to use up the stock to win Pyramid?
- No. The game is won the moment the last pyramid card is removed, whatever is still left in the stock and on the waste.
- How often can Pyramid be won?
- Much less often than Klondike. With a single pass through the stock only a small share of deals come out — perhaps one in twenty — and extra passes help a great deal. Most lost games are lost by pairing a card that was the only partner left for something buried higher up.