TriPeaks is one-player solitaire: clear 28 tableau cards arranged as three peaks by moving exposed cards onto a waste pile when they are one rank higher or lower than its top card. Suits do not matter. The game ends when the peaks are cleared or the stock runs out.
If you have heard the name but not the method, the important thing is that TriPeaks is built around rhythm. You are not building foundations as in Klondike Solitaire (Turn 1), and you are not pairing cards as in Pyramid Solitaire. You are following a rank chain: 7, 8, 9, 8, 7, 6, and so on, for as long as the layout allows.
A first game gives you the rules in the order you meet them: the layout, what counts as a legal move, what a turn looks like, how the game ends, and how scoring treats streaks. The core tripeaks rules are simple enough to learn in one deal. They still leave room for judgement. The skill is in choosing which exposed card to take now and which card to leave for the next run.
What are the actual TriPeaks rules?
TriPeaks Solitaire is a one-player card game played with a standard 52-card pack. The tableau contains 28 cards arranged into three overlapping peaks. Your job is to remove every tableau card by moving legal exposed cards onto the waste pile.
A tableau card is legal when two things are true. First, it must be face up and uncovered. A card is uncovered when no other tableau card overlaps it. Second, its rank must be exactly one higher or one lower than the current top card of the waste pile. If the waste card is a 7, you may play a 6 or an 8. Suits and colours have no role.
In this ruleset, the sequence wraps at the ends: an Ace can connect to a 2 or a King, and a King can connect to a Queen or an Ace. That wrap is part of what gives TriPeaks its long, sudden chains. It also means a visible Ace is often more flexible than it first looks.
You do not move cards between peaks. You do not build piles by suit. You do not choose a foundation. Every legal move goes from the tableau to the waste pile, and every stock draw places a new card on top of that same waste pile.
The stock is the face-down draw pile made from the cards not used in the tableau or initial waste card. If no exposed tableau card is one rank up or down from the waste, you draw one stock card. The game is won when all 28 tableau cards are gone. It is lost when the stock is empty and no legal tableau move remains.
How is the layout set up before the first move?
The TriPeaks layout starts with 28 tableau cards forming three small pyramids that share part of their bottom row. The visual point is simple: lower cards block upper cards. You begin with only the bottom edge available, then expose more of the peaks as cards are removed.
- Players: 1 player.
- Pack: 52 cards, no jokers.
- Tableau: 28 cards arranged as three peaks.
- Face-up cards at the start: the 10 cards along the bottom row.
- Face-down cards at the start: the 18 cards above that bottom row.
- Waste: 1 card turned up from the remaining cards to start the chain.
- Stock: the 23 cards left after the tableau and first waste card are dealt.
Each peak has four rows in shape, but the three peaks overlap across the bottom, which is why the tableau is 28 cards rather than 30. You do not need to memorise that geometry to play, but it explains why the starting position gives you 10 possible exposed cards rather than 12.
Only exposed face-up cards can be played. At the start, that means the bottom row. When a card is removed, it may uncover one or more cards above it. A newly uncovered face-down card is turned face up and can be used later if its rank fits the waste card.
The first visible waste card matters because it sets the opening rank. If it is a 5, the first tableau card must be a 4 or a 6. If neither rank is exposed, the first action is a stock draw.
What happens on a turn, step by step?
- Look at the top waste card. This is the card every tableau move must match against. Only its rank matters. A 10 can take a 9 or a Jack. A Queen can take a Jack or a King.
- Check the exposed tableau cards. Exposed means face up and not covered by another tableau card. A face-up card that is still overlapped by a lower card is not available yet.
- Play one legal card if you can. Move that tableau card onto the waste pile. It becomes the new top waste card, so the next move must be one rank up or one rank down from it.
- Continue the chain for as long as possible. A run might go 4, 5, 6, 7, 6, 5. It does not need to go in one direction. You may climb, drop, and climb again as long as each step changes by exactly one rank.
- Turn over newly uncovered cards. When both blocking cards have gone, a face-down card becomes face up. It is not automatically played; it simply joins the set of cards you may choose from on later moves.
- Draw from stock when no legal tableau card exists. Put the next stock card on the waste pile. This gives you a new rank to work from, but it also spends one of your limited chances to restart the chain.
- Do not undo the waste pile as part of normal play. The waste is a history of the chain, not a hand you can search through. Only the top card matters.
- Repeat until the deal is decided. The game keeps alternating between tableau moves and stock draws. A good turn often clears several cards before a draw. A poor one clears none, but the rule is the same.
How do you win, lose, and score in TriPeaks?
You win TriPeaks by clearing all 28 tableau cards. The stock does not need to be empty. The waste pile does not need to finish on any particular rank. Once the three peaks are gone, the deal is won.
You lose when tableau cards remain, the stock is empty, and there is no exposed tableau card one rank higher or lower than the waste card. At that point there is no legal move left. The game is not lost merely because you draw often; it is lost only when drawing is no longer possible and the tableau cannot move.
Scoring is separate from the win condition. On this version of TriPeaks Solitaire, the score rises as you remove tableau cards, and consecutive removals before a stock draw form a streak. Longer streaks are worth pursuing because they reward the thing the game is built around: keeping the chain alive.
There is no suit scoring. There is no bonus for making poker hands. A red 8 and a black 8 are identical for rule purposes. What matters is the exposed rank and the current waste card.
Scoring systems for tri peaks solitaire vary between versions, so the reliable rule is this: clearing the tableau decides the game; the score measures how efficiently and fluently you did it. If you want a higher score, spend fewer stock cards and look for moves that open more than one future option.
Why do people keep playing TriPeaks Solitaire?
- The rule is tiny. One up or one down is easy to hold in your head. You can start playing before you know any deeper tactics.
- The choices arrive quickly. A single card can open a face-down card, change the waste rank, and keep a streak alive. That gives small decisions real weight.
- Short deals suit tired brains. TriPeaks does not ask you to manage seven tableau columns or plan a long foundation build. It gives you one chain and a limited stock.
- Luck and skill both show. The deal decides what is possible, but your order of play decides how many of those possibilities you actually use.
- Streaks feel good because they are earned. Clearing 5 or 6 cards from one waste card is satisfying precisely because you saw the route before it closed.
- It sits between familiar games. Players who like Golf Solitaire will recognise the rank-chain idea. Players who like Pyramid Solitaire will recognise the pleasure of uncovering a shape piece by piece.
Frequently asked questions
Partly. The deal decides which chains are possible, but your choices decide how long those chains last. Good players uncover blocked cards early, avoid breaking useful runs, and think before spending stock cards. You will still lose some deals even with sensible play. The skill is in wasting fewer chances, not controlling every card.
52 cards are used: 28 in the three-peak tableau and 24 left for the stock and waste. The tableau is the puzzle you must clear. The stock is your supply of fresh base cards when no exposed tableau card is one rank above or below the waste card.
The misconception is that face-up means playable. The correction is that a card must be both face up and uncovered. If another card overlaps it, it is still blocked. Once the covering cards have been removed, it can be played if its rank is one higher or one lower than the current waste card.
Say the waste card is a 7 and the exposed cards include 6, 8, 9, 10, 9 and 8. A strong run might go 7-8-9-10-9-8, especially if those choices uncover new cards. The point is not only taking many cards. The better run also opens buried cards and gives the next move more chances.
It depends on exposure: take the move that uncovers the most useful hidden cards, not just the first legal match. If two cards are both playable, check what each one frees. Removing a card from the lower row often matters more than removing a peak card that was not blocking much.
Golf Solitaire is the closest comparison because both games use one-up-or-one-down play onto a waste pile. TriPeaks feels different because of its three overlapping peaks and the way cards become available only after their covers are cleared. Golf Solitaire is flatter. TriPeaks has more little reveals, which is why a single good streak can change the whole deal.
The short rule is no: a card must be fully uncovered before it can be played. The exception is only practical, not strategic: the moment the last covering card is removed, it becomes available, even if it has been sitting face up for several turns. Knowing a covered card’s rank does not make it legal.
Most people spend legal moves in the wrong order. They clear easy exposed cards while leaving blockers in place, then flip stock when the tableau has stopped giving them options. Before taking a card, ask what it reveals. A move that opens two new cards is usually worth more than a move that only continues a short, tidy run.
A streak is a chain of tableau cards played without turning a new stock card. For example, if the waste is 4 and you play 5, 6, 7, 6 and 5 from the tableau, that is one streak. Streaks matter because they clear cards quickly and usually create more new choices than stop-start play.
Check the cards that are blocking the widest parts of the layout. Look for pairs of playable cards and decide which one opens more face-down cards. Notice ranks that can run both ways, such as 8-9-10-9 or 5-4-3-4. Then play the move that improves the board, not merely the move that is available.
Nobody knows precisely what a “perfect” TriPeaks move count should mean, because some players count only tableau removals and others count stock turns as moves. The firm figure is 28 successful tableau plays: that is the number of cards in the three peaks. Stock turns are extra, and the fewer you need, the cleaner the win.
Robert Hogue created TriPeaks Solitaire in 1989. It later became familiar to many players through computer solitaire collections, where its quick deals and one-rank chaining suited short sessions. The core idea has stayed simple: clear three small peaks by making rank-by-rank links from the waste card.
The cost of getting it wrong is tempo. A legal card may still be a poor choice if it closes a longer run or leaves a blocking card in place. One weak click can force an early stock turn, and stock turns are your limited escape route. TriPeaks rarely punishes with drama. It punishes with one fewer useful option.
Final thoughts
The best advice for a new player is to slow down for the first move of each chain, then speed up once the route is clear. TriPeaks often tempts you into taking the first legal card you see. That is sometimes right. It is also how good deals get stranded with one blocked peak and no stock left.
Look for cards that uncover cards. A move from the bottom row that flips a face-down card is usually more useful than a move from the same rank that opens nothing. Also watch duplicate ranks. If two exposed 6s are available on a 5, one may uncover a card while the other merely disappears. Same legal move. Different future.
Do not be too precious about the stock. Drawing is part of the game, not a confession of failure. The mistake is drawing before you have checked every exposed card and thought about the next rank after it. One extra card in a streak can be the difference between a blocked peak and a clean finish.
After a few games, the pattern becomes physical: scan the edge, choose the card that opens the board, protect flexible ranks such as Aces and Kings, and enjoy the rare run where the whole layout seems to fall in order.
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