Pyramide Solitaire

Example games

In brief

Deal PY1-N-AAAAAAS can be won in 33 moves, replayed one by one below. Deal PY1-N-AAAAAAJ cannot be won: at best, 14 cards out of 28 can be removed. Paste either code into the app's New Game window.

A winning game

Deal PY1-N-AAAAAAS. Starting waste card: 7♦; bottom row: 7♣, 10♣, 3♥, 4♥, 3♠, R♦, 7♠. The game is won in 33 moves: 20 removals and 13 draws, without recycling; 10 cards remain in the stock and 6 in the waste. Score: 280 points. No winning game for this deal is shorter: the program that found it tries move sequences in increasing order of length (106 846 positions examined).

Stock: 23 cards; waste: 7 of diamonds. Row 1: jack of diamonds; row 2: 6 of clubs, 7 of hearts; row 3: ace of spades, 4 of diamonds, queen of spades; row 4: 5 of hearts, 3 of diamonds, 6 of hearts, 8 of spades; row 5: king of hearts, king of clubs, ace of diamonds, king of spades, 9 of clubs; row 6: queen of clubs, 2 of clubs, 8 of diamonds, 10 of diamonds, 10 of spades, jack of spades; row 7: 7 of clubs, 10 of clubs, 3 of hearts, 4 of hearts, 3 of spades, king of diamonds, 7 of spades.

At the start: 0 cards removed from the pyramid, 23 in the stock, waste 7♦, 0 points.

Stock: 17 cards; waste: 3 of clubs. Row 1: jack of diamonds; row 2: 6 of clubs, 7 of hearts; row 3: ace of spades, 4 of diamonds, queen of spades; row 4: 5 of hearts, 3 of diamonds, 6 of hearts, 8 of spades; row 5: king of hearts, king of clubs, ace of diamonds, king of spades, 9 of clubs; row 6: queen of clubs, 2 of clubs, 10 of spades, jack of spades; row 7: 7 of clubs, 7 of spades.

After 11 moves (move 11): 7 cards removed from the pyramid, 17 in the stock, waste 3♣, 70 points.

Stock: 10 cards; waste: 2 of hearts. Row 1: jack of diamonds; row 2: 6 of clubs, 7 of hearts; row 3: ace of spades, 4 of diamonds, queen of spades; row 4: 5 of hearts, 3 of diamonds, 6 of hearts, 8 of spades; row 5: king of hearts, king of clubs, king of spades, 9 of clubs; row 6: 10 of spades, jack of spades; row 7: 7 of spades.

After 22 moves (move 22): 11 cards removed from the pyramid, 10 in the stock, waste 2♥, 110 points.

Stock: 10 cards; waste: 8 of clubs. Row 1: empty; row 2: empty; row 3: empty; row 4: empty; row 5: empty; row 6: empty; row 7: empty.

Game won (move 33): 28 cards removed from the pyramid, 10 in the stock, waste 8♣, 280 points.
The game’s 33 moves
  1. King R♦
  2. pair 10♣ + 3♠
  3. draw: 8♥
  4. draw: 2♦
  5. draw: 9♦
  6. waste 9♦ + 4♥
  7. pair 10♦ + 3♥
  8. draw: 9♥
  9. draw: 3♣
  10. draw: 5♦
  11. waste 5♦ + 8♦
  12. draw: 8♣
  13. draw: 6♠
  14. waste 6♠ + 7♣
  15. draw: 2♠
  16. draw: A♥
  17. waste A♥ + D♣
  18. draw: 2♥
  19. draw: D♦
  20. waste D♦ + A♦
  21. draw: V♥
  22. waste V♥ + 2♣
  23. King R♥
  24. King R♣
  25. pair 3♦ + 10♠
  26. King R♠
  27. pair 6♥ + 7♠
  28. waste 2♥ + V♠
  29. pair 4♦ + 9♣
  30. pair 5♥ + 8♠
  31. pair A♠ + D♠
  32. pair 6♣ + 7♥
  33. waste 2♠ + V♦

An unwinnable deal

Deal PY1-N-AAAAAAJ: waste D♣, bottom row 8♦, 9♥, 6♥, 7♣, 8♣, 9♣, D♥. It cannot be won, even with unlimited passes through the stock. A program that tries every legal sequence of moves, remembering positions already visited (814 254 positions), proves this: at best, 14 cards out of 28 can be removed from the pyramid. The shortest game that achieves this takes 27 moves and scores 140 points.

One of the best games (27 moves)
  1. pair 6♥ + 7♣
  2. draw: 9♦
  3. draw: D♦
  4. draw: A♠
  5. waste A♠ + D♥
  6. draw: A♦
  7. draw: 2♣
  8. draw: 7♥
  9. draw: 8♥
  10. draw: 5♣
  11. waste 5♣ + 8♣
  12. draw: V♥
  13. waste V♥ + 2♦
  14. draw: 3♠
  15. draw: R♣
  16. draw: V♦
  17. draw: 6♠
  18. draw: 7♦
  19. draw: A♣
  20. draw: 10♥
  21. draw: 4♣
  22. waste 4♣ + 9♣
  23. pair 4♠ + 9♥
  24. pair 5♠ + 8♦
  25. waste 10♥ + 3♥
  26. pair V♣ + 2♠
  27. King R♥

Stock: 6 cards; waste: ace of clubs. Row 1: 10 of spades; row 2: 3 of diamonds, 10 of diamonds; row 3: 4 of diamonds, 6 of diamonds, king of spades; row 4: 6 of clubs, queen of spades, king of diamonds, 4 of hearts; row 5: 10 of clubs, 5 of hearts, 3 of clubs; row 6: 9 of spades; row 7: empty.

PY1-N-AAAAAAJ, end of this game: 14 cards left in the pyramid; 6 cards in the stock and 13 in the waste, but no more pairs are possible, even after further passes through the stock.

The app does not flag this dead end: as long as the stock or waste contains a card, you can still draw or recycle. You have to start a new game yourself.

The deals on this page

CodeWinnableGame shown
PY1-N-AAAAAASyes33 moves, 280 points
PY1-N-AAAAAAJno (at best 14 cards)27 moves, 140 points