Pyramid Clear

About Pyramid Clear Solitaire

by Thomas Warfield

Screen shot of the game Pyramid (like Pyramid Clear) from Pretty Good Solitaire.

Pyramid Clear is a variation of the popular game Pyramid, an addition type game. The layout of Pyramid Clear is the same as Pyramid, it is different from Pyramid in how the game is won.

How to Play

At the start of Pyramid Clear, 28 cards are dealt out face up in the form of a triangular pyramid. One card is dealt to the first row, then 2 cards to the second row, 3 cards to the third, and so on down to 7 cards in the final seventh row, making a total of 28 cards. The cards are dealt so that each card is partially covered by 2 cards in the row below it. Only cards that are not covered by any other card are available for pairing.

The remainder of the cards form a stock and are dealt one at a time to a waste pile. Both the top card of the stock and the waste are available, so it is possible to pair them. The top card of the stock and waste can be paired with any available card in the pyramid, and two available cards from the pyramid can be paired together as well.

Cards that have ranks that add to 13 may be paired. Kings are just removed as a single card. The possible pairs are Queen-Ace, Jack-2, 10-3, 9-4, 8-5, and 7-6.

The objective in Pyramid Clear is simply to clear the pyramid. When all 28 cards in the pyramid are paired off and removed, the game is won. The cards left over in the stock or waste do not matter. This makes the game considerably easier than regular Pyramid.

Because you can win by pairing fewer than all 52 cards, Pyramid is unusual in that you can win the game with a score of less than 52. You could, in theory, pair all the cards in the pyramid together and win with a score of 28. Or you could end up pairing all 52 cards (which would be like a game of regular Pyramid).

Variations of Pyramid Clear