Choose a pair for the card it will expose next.
Pyramid starts with 28 face-up cards in seven rows and 24 in stock. Exposed cards can pair when their values total 13; Kings leave alone. An upper card becomes available after both lower cards covering it are gone. Pair selection is an access decision as well as a value match.
Last updated: September 2026
Remove the second blocker when it matters
A base-row card can be removed at any time if it finds a partner. The card above two base positions remains covered after only one of them is removed. When two legal pairs are available, look for the pair that removes a second blocker and creates another playable position.
Suppose an upper Two has already lost one lower coverer; its remaining coverer is a Jack. This site's engine allows the covered Two and the Jack to leave together as a special chain pair because 2 + 11 = 13. The Two cannot be removed alone while the Jack still covers it. That move is verified in the playable Pyramid game.
Track complements, not only immediate pairs
Useful complements include Ace with Queen, Two with Jack, Three with Ten, Four with Nine, Five with Eight, and Six with Seven. A King needs no partner. If two exposed cards can use the same waste top, compare what each pair opens and whether another copy of that complement is still available.
Drawing one stock card places it on the single waste pile and may cover a useful top card. The stock can be recycled up to two times after it empties. A full-clear win requires removing the entire pyramid and every stock and waste card, so a waste-only pair may eventually be necessary.
Relaxed Pyramid changes the finish line
Relaxed Pyramid keeps the same pair and stock rules, but the win condition is only to clear the 28 pyramid cards. Stock and waste may remain. A waste-only pair is useful when it reveals a needed partner; clearing waste for its own sake is unnecessary.
This makes a waste card a potential tool for a blocked pyramid card. It does not make every early use safe: spending the only exposed Queen on a convenient Ace may leave another Ace in the pyramid without a reachable partner. Check future access before drawing or pairing.
Related layouts
Apophis rotates draws across three waste piles. Tut's Tomb draws three at once into one waste pile. Giza replaces stock with visible reserve piles. Triangle inverts the covering direction.