OBJECTIVE of TRI-PEAKS SOLITAIRE: Remove all cards from play by uncovering the cards of each of the three peaks that are part of the table layout.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 1
NUMBER OF CARDS: 52
RANK OF CARDS: Ace, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King. However, you may “turn the corner” during play, and play either a King on an Ace, or an Ace on a King. The sequence goes either way.
TYPE OF GAME: Puzzle
AUDIENCE: Solo players, teens and up.
HOW TO PLAY TRI PEAKS SOLITAIRE
THE DEAL
The table for Tri-Peaks is set up with three different sections. The Three Peaks, which are the pyramids of cards – each one is 4 cards high, but the peaks share the lowest level of cards in a row made up of 10 cards. The bottom row is all face-up cards, but other rows remain face down at the start.
At the bottom left of your Peaks, you should have the Stock. The Stock is your deck, you use it to draw cards from to put on the Waste. The Waste is a face up pile next to your deck, it should be empty at the beginning.
GAMEPLAY
Tri-Peaks is similar to other solitaire variations like Pyramid. It’s fast-paced, but less intricate, though you will need to give your moves more thought as you play through the cards.
As noted above, the objective of this game is to move all of your cards from the Peaks to your Waste pile. You can only move open cards to the Waste pile; an open card is a card that has no other cards on top of it/covering it. At the beginning of the game, the entire bottom row is open, but as you remove cards from play in that first row, you can’t move cards from the second row until they are completely uncovered. The cards overlap due to the pyramid style of play, which is why it’s challenging to complete the objective.
You can move a card to your Waste pile if it ranks one higher or one lower than the last card that you placed there. At the start of your game, you will need to think about how you want to start off the round – which card should go on the Waste pile first, and if there are cards available that are one rank higher or lower than the card that you want to get rid of.
If you move an Ace to the Waste pile, your next card could be a King or a 2. You are allowed to “turn the corner” in this game, which means that you move a King, then an Ace, then a 2, and then go back to an Ace and a King, if you wanted to. There are no limits, as long as the card is ranked one higher or lower, with an Ace being both rank 1 and 11 in this game.
Keep moving cards from the Peaks to the Waste until you can’t. Your aim is to clear the Peaks of all of their cards. If you have no cards in the Peaks that can be moved, then you can take a card from the Stock deck and move it to the Waste, instead.
However, you can only turn over one Stock deck one card at a time, and you may not reset the deck. It is advised that you try not to use the Stock deck cards unless you definitely cannot move any cards from your three Peaks piles.
HOW TO WIN TRI-PEAKS SOLITAIRE
To win Tri Peaks, you need to clear all three peaks by moving all cards to the Waste pile. It does not matter how many (if any) cards you have left in the Stock if you clear all three peaks of the game.
SCORING SYSTEM
If you do want to keep track of how much you’ve scored during the game, the scoring system for Tri-Peaks works like this: Your score is based on the number of cards you have left at the end of your game – one point per card, if you want a simple score. To win, your score should be zero because you should have no cards left where your Peaks were.
LOSING
It’s hard to tell when you’ve lost a solo game, but if you can’t move any cards from your three Peaks and/or your have no cards left in your Stockpile, then you’ve lost your round. At this point, you can reshuffle and try again.
Other Names: Triple Peaks, Three Peaks, Tri-Towers.
Looking for other fun card games to play? Check out our list of the best single player card games!
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I need to know how to change the level of difficulty. I am stuck on Grandmaster. I want to change to Random or something else.
Hi Judith, I am not sure what you are referring to. Could you elaborate for me and I will be happy to help if I can.
You must have selected “alway remember my selection” after choosing Grand Master.
I absolutely love playing TRI-PEAKS SOLITAIRE! It’s the perfect game to unwind and challenge your mind at the same time. The strategic card play and beautiful graphics make it a top-notch choice for anyone looking for a fun and engaging solitaire experience. Thanks for highlighting this fantastic game!
Thanks!
Great instructions!
Thank you!