TriPeaks Solitaire — Complete Guide
How to play and win TriPeaks (also called Three Peaks) — rules, setup, scoring, and strategy tips.
What Is TriPeaks Solitaire?
TriPeaks Solitaire (also spelled Tri Peaks, and sometimes called Three Peaks or Triple Peaks) is a one-player card game played with a standard 52-card deck. The goal is to clear a tableau of 28 cards arranged in three overlapping pyramids by building sequential chains off a central waste pile.
The game was designed by Robert Hogue in 1989 and gained wide popularity through Microsoft’s card game collections. It’s faster and more chain-focused than Klondike Solitaire, making it a favorite for players who want a snappier, more score-driven experience.
TriPeaks Layout
| Area | Cards | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Tableau | 28 cards | Three peaks of 3 rows; all face-down except the exposed bottom row |
| Stock pile | 23 cards | Face-down draw pile |
| Waste pile | 1 card (to start) | The top card is the active card; matched tableau cards go here |
Peak structure (each peak):
- Row 1 (top): 1 card — face-down
- Row 2 (middle): 2 cards — face-down
- Row 3 (bottom): 3 cards — exposed
The three peaks share bottom rows, so cards in the overlapping bottom region can unblock two peaks at once.
Setup
- Shuffle the full 52-card deck
- Deal 28 cards face-down in the three-peak arrangement — 10 cards per peak, with shared bottom rows
- Flip all bottom row cards face-up (the 10 cards visible along the base of the three peaks)
- Deal 1 card face-up to start the waste pile
- Set the remaining 23 cards as the face-down stock pile
How to Play
On each turn, you can do one of two things:
Remove a tableau card: If any face-up tableau card is exactly one rank higher or lower than the top waste pile card, click or pick it up and place it on the waste pile. Aces can be played on Kings or 2s (wrapping is common in most digital versions, but some physical rules do not wrap — check your rule set).
Draw from stock: If no tableau card is playable, flip the top stock card onto the waste pile. This resets your scoring streak to zero.
Revealing cards: When you remove a tableau card, any face-down card it was covering that is now fully uncovered is turned face-up and becomes available for play.
Win condition: Clear all 28 tableau cards before exhausting the stock.
Lose condition: Stock is exhausted and no tableau cards are playable.
Card Rank Order
| Low | → | → | → | → | → | → | → | → | → | → | → | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | J | Q | K |
A card can be removed if it is one step up or one step down from the waste pile top. Example: if the waste pile shows a 7, you can play a 6 or an 8.
Wrapping (most digital versions): An Ace can be played on a King (and a King on an Ace), creating a wraparound sequence.
Scoring
TriPeaks uses a streak-based scoring system:
| Cards removed consecutively | Points for that card |
|---|---|
| 1st card in streak | 1 |
| 2nd card | 2 |
| 3rd card | 3 |
| 4th card | 4 |
| 5th card | 5 |
| nth card | n |
Peak bonus: Clearing an entire peak (all 10 cards in one peak removed) earns a 15-point bonus.
Streak reset: Drawing a card from the stock resets the streak counter to 0. The next removal scores 1 again.
Maximum theoretical score: A perfect run clearing all 28 cards in one streak would score 1+2+3+…+28 = 406 points, plus up to 45 points in peak bonuses (15 × 3) = 451 points total. This is extremely rare in practice.
Typical winning scores: Most wins score between 50–150 points. A score above 100 is considered good; 200+ is excellent.
Strategy
1. Think in chains, not individual cards
The biggest mistake in TriPeaks is playing the first available card without considering what comes next. Before removing a card, check whether it leads to another playable card and another after that. A 6-card chain is worth 21 points; six individual 1-card moves (drawing between each) score only 6.
2. Conserve your stock pile
Every draw resets your streak. The 23 stock cards are your lifeline — burning through them quickly means fewer chances to build chains later in the game. When you have a choice, extend the chain rather than drawing.
3. Prioritize face-down cards
Tableau cards that are still face-down can’t be played. When choosing between two playable cards, favor the one that unblocks a face-down card, giving you more future options.
4. Focus on the most blocked peak
If one peak has more face-down cards covered by other cards, work on that peak first. Leaving a peak mostly intact while clearing another one risks being unable to finish the blocked peak later.
5. Keep the waste pile rank “central”
Mid-range cards (5–9) have more adjacent ranks available than extreme cards (A, K). When building a chain, try to land on a mid-range rank to maximize the number of tableau cards you can play next.
6. Wrap when it helps
If your game version allows A-K wrapping, a chain that reaches a King can continue through Ace-2-3 instead of stalling. Be aware of where Kings and Aces sit in the tableau before committing to a chain direction.
Example Round
Waste pile top: 7 of Hearts
Available face-up cards: 6♦, 8♠, J♣, Q♥, A♦
Chain: Play 6♦ (6 is one below 7) → waste shows 6 → play 5… (if 5 is available) — or play 8♠ (8 is one above 7) → waste shows 8 → play 9… if available.
Draw from stock only after no legal play exists.
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