Play Pharaohs — Three Pyramids, No Stock, Nothing Hidden

Pharaohs deals the entire pack onto the table as three separate pyramids — one of two rows, one of seven and one of six, which comes to fifty-two cards exactly. There is no stock and no waste. Two available cards leave together when their values add up to thirteen, and a king is thirteen on its own. The crucial point is that each pyramid blocks only its own cards: a card in the big triangle is never held down by one in the small, so you are digging three boards at once and may pair across them freely. Because nothing is hidden, Pharaohs is a planning puzzle rather than a gamble. Also known as Three Pharaohs. Free in your browser, no sign-up, and it works offline once the page has loaded.

How Do You Play Pharaohs?

Goal: Play Pharaohs Solitaire free online. Three pyramids of two, seven and six rows hold the whole pack — pair cards to thirteen with no stock to draw from.

Setup

• Three pyramids: two rows (3 cards), seven rows (28) and six rows (21) — 52 in all.
• No stock and no waste. The whole pack is on the table from the first move.
• Blocking is per pyramid. A triangle covers only its own cards.
• Discard: removed cards leave the game; there are no foundations.

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: A+Q, 2+J, 3+10, 4+9, 5+8 and 6+7.
• A king is thirteen by itself. One click removes it.
• A card is available only when both cards covering it — within its own pyramid — have gone.
• Cards pair across pyramids freely. A card in the six-row triangle may take one in the seven.
• The bottom rows of all three pyramids are available at the deal: two, seven and six cards, fifteen in all.
• You win when all 52 cards have been removed.
• You lose the moment no legal pair remains. With nothing hidden, that verdict is certain.

What's the Best Pharaohs Strategy?

• Clear the small pyramid early. The two-row triangle is only three cards and comes apart in one or two moves. Doing it first turns three cards into free partners for the two larger boards, which is the cheapest advantage in the game.
• Fifteen cards are available at the deal — read all of them. Nothing is hidden, so the whole deal is solvable or not from the first move. Look for the pairs that open the deepest rows before you take the obvious ones.
• Pair across the pyramids, not within them. Taking two cards from the same bottom row opens one row above; taking one from each of two pyramids opens two. Spread your removals.
• Find the kings first. There are four, they cost nothing, and each unblocks two cards. A king in the seven-row triangle is worth more than one in the two-row, which blocks almost nothing.
• Count partners before you spend them. Four of each value means four possible partners. Track which values you have exhausted — a stranded ace with all four queens gone ends the deal.

A Short History

Pharaohs is one of the small group of pyramid patiences that dispense with the stock entirely, and it goes further than most: rather than balancing a single triangle with a reserve, it simply builds three triangles and lets them account for the whole pack. The arithmetic is neat — three plus twenty-eight plus twenty-one is fifty-two — and the design point is that the pyramids are independent for blocking but joined for pairing. That gives you three separate digging problems whose solutions feed each other, which is a genuinely different exercise from the one-triangle game. The open-source PySolFC collection, whose rules this version follows, tags it as an open game and rates it balanced, and records the alternative name Three Pharaohs. Because no card is hidden and none can enter play except by a removal, this implementation can tell you with certainty when a deal is finished rather than leaving you to hunt for a move that is not there.

About This Version

This Pharaohs 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

• Giza — one triangle and eight reserve piles, also with no stock
• Two Pyramids — two triangles and two decks, with the stock restored
• Relaxed Pyramid — the classic single triangle
• Pyramid Dozen — the open board, pairing to twelve instead