What is Apophis?
Apophis is a Pyramid Solitaire variant named after the ancient Egyptian serpent of chaos. It uses the same pairing rule as Pyramid — remove pairs of available cards that total 13, Kings removed alone — with three waste lanes instead of one. Where standard Pyramid deals from stock into a single waste pile, Apophis spreads the stock across three simultaneous waste lanes, giving you three active waste-card choices at once. Comparing the three exposed waste tops is the central tactical challenge.
Full rules
A standard 52-card deck is used. The pyramid is dealt as in standard Pyramid — seven rows, one card at the apex through seven at the base — with the same blocking structure (each card is blocked by the two cards directly below it). The remaining cards are drawn into three separate waste piles, which grow as the player deals from the stock.
Available cards are any uncovered pyramid card plus the current top of each of the three waste lanes. Pairs totaling 13 are removed; Kings are removed alone. Win by clearing all cards from the pyramid, stock, and three waste lanes.
How Apophis differs from Pyramid
Standard Pyramid: one waste pile, one active waste card at a time, cards seen in strict sequence. Apophis: three waste lanes, three active waste cards simultaneously. The additional flexibility means more pairing options per turn, but also more decisions and more ways to uncover or bury a needed waste card.
Pairing a waste top with a pyramid card removes a blocker and reveals the next card in that lane, if one is there. New draws rotate across the three lanes automatically; the player chooses which exposed waste card to pair, not where the next draw lands.
Read the Apophis strategy guide →
Apophis is part of Pyramid Park · Pyramid & peaks and is a variant of Pyramid.
More Pyramid & peaks games
- Pyramid — Pair cards summing to 13 to remove them.
- Giza — Eight open reserve columns, no stock phase.
- Relaxed Pyramid — Clear only the pyramid; stock may remain.
- Triangle — Inverted-pyramid layout variant.
- Tut’s Tomb — Pyramid with a three-card stock draw cadence.
Also try
- Baroness (Pairing & removal) — Discard pairs summing to 13.
- Golf (Golf & adjacency) — Play cards one above or below the waste top.
- Ninety-One (Grid & sequence puzzles) — Move top cards among thirteen piles until their values add to 91.
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