TriPeaks Solitaire

TriPeaks solitaire is a one-player card game where you clear three peaks of cards onto a single waste pile, one rank up or down at a time, in long streaks. Play it free below: no sign-up, no download, no money. The rules, scoring, odds and tips follow the game.

TriPeaks at a Glance

How to Play TriPeaks Solitaire

1. Deal the peaks. Lay a row of 10 cards face up. Above it, overlapping by half a card, deal 9 face down, then 6 face down in three pairs, then 3 face down on top. That makes three pyramids, or peaks, that share the bottom row.
2. Start the waste. The other 24 cards are the stock. Turn the top one face up beside it: that is the first waste card.
3. Play onto the waste. Move any uncovered card from the peaks onto the waste if it is one rank higher or lower, in any suit. On a 7 you can play a 6 or an 8. The card you play becomes the new waste card, so you can keep going: 7, 8, 9, 8, 7, 6…
4. Turn cards over. When both cards covering a face-down card are gone, turn it face up. It is now in play.
5. Use the stock when stuck. If no peak card fits, turn the next stock card onto the waste and look again.
6. Win or lose. You win when all three peaks are cleared, even if stock cards are left. The game is lost when the stock is used up and no peak card fits.

TriPeaks Rules Questions

TriPeaks Scoring

Many versions, including the game above, use the classic streak scoring. The longer the run of cards you play without touching the stock, the more each card is worth.

Example: you play a run of five cards (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15), turn a stock card (−5), then play two more (1 + 2 = 3): 13 points so far. One unbroken 28-card streak that clears every peak would score 466, the most any deal can give.

TriPeaks Odds: How Often Can You Win?

To measure it, 2,000 random deals were played by computer in five ways: perfect play with every card known (every possible order of moves tried), the same without the King-Ace link, and three simple strategies that see only the face-up cards, as a real player does.

• Almost every deal can be won. With perfect play 97% of deals clear, in line with the game’s inventor, Robert Hogue, who found over 90% of deals solvable.
• Planning doubles your chances. Looking for the longest run among the face-up cards won 49% of deals, against 29% for playing the first card that fits. Solitaired reports a similar real-world figure: players won 51% of 161,604 games.
• The King-Ace link matters a lot. Without it, the visible-run strategy wins only 20% of deals.
• A good start is common. The bottom row has at least one card that fits the first waste card 85% of the time (1.6 playable cards on average).
• Scores. With classic scoring the visible-run strategy averaged +9.6 points a deal and a longest streak of 7 cards (10 or more in 15% of deals); playing the first card that fits averaged -14.8. Perfect play with every card known averaged 107.

TriPeaks Strategy

• Find the longest run before you move. Trace the chain you can make from the face-up cards, going up and down (6, 7, 8, 7, 6…). The first card that fits is often not the best start.
• Uncover face-down cards. When two cards of the same rank fit, play the one that turns over a hidden card, or two. More face-up cards mean more choices for the next run.
• Work the peaks evenly. Peak tops sit deepest. Opening all three peaks keeps runs going; leaving one buried often ends the game with a few cards stuck there.
• Turn the stock only when stuck. Each stock card costs 5 points and ends your streak, and you only get 23 of them.
• Save a link card. If a 9 can follow either an 8 or a 10 that you will need later, keep it for the moment it bridges two runs.
• Count what is gone. If three 5s are on the waste, a 4 or 6 in the peaks has only one 5 left to connect through.

TriPeaks Variations

• No King-Ace link: ranks stop at Ace and King. Harder; switch “King and Ace connect” off in the game above to try it.
• Open peaks: every card is dealt face up, so the game becomes pure planning. The “All cards face up” option above plays it this way.
• Wild card: a joker or chosen card fits on anything, which makes clearing all three peaks easier.
• Empty-waste start: the waste starts empty and you choose any uncovered card to begin with.
• Other layouts: Hogue meant the three-peak deal as the first of many, and other layouts with their own scoring followed in later card packs and apps.

TriPeaks vs Golf vs Pyramid

History of TriPeaks

Robert Hogue invented TriPeaks in 1989. It shipped in Microsoft’s Windows Entertainment Pack 3, and its place in the Microsoft Solitaire Collection made it popular. It plays like Golf solitaire, with the same one-up, one-down moves, but hides most of the cards and rewards long streaks.

More Solitaire Games

TriPeaks is a close relative of Golf solitaire, which you can also play free. For the classic seven-pile game, see how to play solitaire (Klondike). For one-rank-up-or-down play against another person, try Spit.

A different kind of solitaire: play Pyramid solitaire, where you remove pairs that add up to 13.

TriPeaks solitaire: frequently asked questions