Play Relaxed Pyramid — The Classic Triangle, Won When It Clears

Relaxed Pyramid is the classic pyramid patience with the one change that makes it winnable rather than merely frustrating: you win the moment the triangle is clear, whatever is still sitting in the stock and the waste. Twenty-eight cards are dealt face-up as a seven-row triangle in which each card covers two below it, and the remaining twenty-four form a stock. Two available cards leave together when their values add up to thirteen, and a king is thirteen on its own. The stock may be recycled twice. Also known as Pyramid's Stones and Pyramid Clear. Free in your browser, no sign-up, and it works offline once the page has loaded.

How Do You Play Relaxed Pyramid?

Goal: Play Relaxed Pyramid Solitaire free online. Clear a 28-card triangle by pairing cards that total thirteen — you win the moment the pyramid is empty.

Setup

• Board: 28 cards face-up in a seven-row triangle, each card covering two in the row below.
• Stock: 23 cards, with one card already turned to the waste.
• Redeals: two — the waste returns under the stock twice.
• Discard: removed cards leave the game entirely; there are no foundations to build.

Rules

• Card values are ace 1, pip cards their face value, jack 11, queen 12, king 13.
• Click two available cards whose values add up to thirteen to remove them: A+Q, 2+J, 3+10, 4+9, 5+8 and 6+7.
• A king is thirteen by itself. One click removes it.
• Suits and colours are ignored. Only the value counts.
• A card is available only when the cards covering it have all gone. Covered cards are dimmed.
• The stock's top card is face up and playable, and so is the waste's top. Either may pair with a board card.
• Click the stock to turn its next card to the waste.
• When the stock empties you may recycle the waste back under it, twice.
• You win the moment the triangle is empty. Cards left in the stock or waste do not count against you.
• You lose when no pair, no king, no deal and no redeal remains.

What's the Best Relaxed Pyramid Strategy?

• Dig, do not just match. Every pair you take should aim at freeing a card higher up the triangle. A pair that clears two cards from the same column is worth more than a pair that clears one card from each of two far-apart columns.
• Count the kings early. There are four, they cost nothing to remove, and each one that sits in the triangle blocks the two cards above it. A king in the bottom row is free money; a king buried deep is a target to dig towards.
• Look before you turn. The stock's top card is playable where it lies, so check whether it pairs with anything on the board before you deal past it. Once it goes to the waste it is still playable, but a later turn will bury it.
• Track the pairs you have spent. Each value has four copies, and if all four queens go early the aces beneath them are stranded. Prefer the pairing that leaves both values still represented in the deck.
• Use the second and third passes deliberately. The first pass is for the easy pairs; the later ones are for the cards you deliberately skipped. Note where a needed card sits in the waste order so you can meet it when it comes round again.

A Short History

Pyramid is one of the best-known patiences in print, and one of the least winnable: the classic rules require the entire pack to reach the discard, which even careful play manages only rarely. Relaxed Pyramid changes exactly one line — the triangle must be empty, and the stock and waste may keep whatever is left — and the effect is out of all proportion to the size of the change. The game becomes a clean digging puzzle in which the question is always "what does this pair free?" rather than "is this deal already lost?". The open-source PySolFC collection, whose rules this version follows, registers it in its own right under two further names, Pyramid's Stones and Pyramid Clear, and tags it as a relaxed variant. It is the version most people mean when they say they enjoy Pyramid, and it is the right place to learn the board before trying the strict game or its odder relatives.

About This Version

This Relaxed Pyramid runs in your browser — free, no download, no sign-up. Install it as an app on your phone or computer; once installed it works offline. Unlimited undo, statistics, and a daily challenge that gives every player the same deal that day.

Other Solitaire Games to Try

• Pyramid — the strict game — the whole pack must go
• Triangle — the same pyramid stood on its point
• Cheops — the pyramid board with adjacent ranks instead of sums
• Thirteens — pairs to thirteen with nothing blocking anything