Play Tripeaks Solitaire Online for Free

Tripeaks is a relatively new game, developed in 1989 by Robert Hogue as part of Windows Entertainment Pack 3. Also known as Three Peaks, Triple Peaks, or Tri Towers, it’s a quick and simple adding and pairing game. You can play unlimited games on Solitaired.com.

How to Play Tripeaks Solitaire

Tripeaks Solitaire requires just one deck of cards and has you clear the tableau to win the game, but unlike the traditional Klondike Solitaire, you don’t arrange cards into the foundation piles. Instead, you pair cards from the tableau that are one rank higher or lower than the top card on the waste pile, similar to Golf Solitaire.

Objective

Clear the tableau into the waste pile by pairing the top card from the waste pile with one from the tableau that is one rank higher or lower. Color and suit doesn’t matter—you can pair cards of both the same color or opposite colors.

Tripeaks Solitaire Setup

Tripeaks Solitaire has three basic piles or that you use to play the game:

• The tableau: The main area of play looks similar to Pyramid Solitaire and uses 28 cards. Set up like three smaller pyramids, the first three rows of facedown cards overlap cards in the previous row. The fourth and last row of all three pyramids is a shared row of 10 face-up cards. You must clear the entire tableau, not the stockpile, to win the game.
• The stockpile: The remaining 24 cards are placed facedown in a pile at the bottom of the tableau. You flip cards over into the stockpile one card at a time. You can only pass through the stockpile once during the game.
• The waste pile: The first card you flip from the stockpile becomes your first face-up waste pile card. You pair a card from the tableau with this waste pile card that is one rank higher or lower. When you pair a card from the tableau, the tableau cards become the new top card of the waste pile, the one that needs to be paired next. If you run out of moves, you can turn over another card from the stockpile and use it for pairing.

Tripeaks Solitaire Rules

Keep these rules in mind while playing:

• You can only pair the top waste pile card with tableau cards that are one rank higher or lower. For example, if a ten of hearts is the top card of the waste pile, you can pair it with either a nine of any suit or a jack of any suit in the tableau. The tableau card you pair then becomes the top card of the waste pile.
• You can only use cards that are available and face-up. Not all the cards are face-up or available for play. Available cards are not overlapped by other cards, and available cards, once revealed, can be turned face-up and be played.
• You can only go through the stockpile once. Not every waste pile card results in a pairing. If you can’t pair the top card from the waste pile with a card on the tableau, you can flip over the next stockpile card to reveal a new waste pile card. However, you can only cycle through the stockpile once or else the game is over.
• You cannot build sequences. Unlike Klondike Solitaire, this game doesn’t involve building sequences in the tableau or in foundation piles. The only moves you can make are pairing cards from the tableau with waste pile cards.
• You cannot fill empty spaces. Although you may want to save a card from the waste pile to use later, you can’t backfill gaps left behind after you pair cards. You have to play the tableau as it’s dealt without moving or storing cards.

Strategies to Win Tripeaks

Tripeaks may look simple, but it can be a challenge to ensure you clear the tableau, especially since you can’t see all of the cards dealt, but these strategies help get you closer to a win:

• Use the stockpile sparingly. You only get to cycle through the 24-card stockpile once, so passing up a crucial card can make a difference. Since you can’t see the rank of the cards in the tableau until they become available, try to make turning over a new stockpile card a last resort.
• Plan your moves. Although you can only plan your moves with the cards that are currently revealed, work to pair the longest sequences you can so you remove as many cards in one move as possible.
• Pause your moves when new cards are revealed. While you just planned a great sequence of pairing, a new available card can make a difference. Check to see if that card can help you extend your pairing sequence before going through with your initial plan.
• Remove cards as evenly as possible. Similar to Pyramid, try not to work just one area of the tableau. Try to remove cards evenly across the three peaks so that you maximize the number of cards revealed and thus the number of cards available to play.
• Remember that you can move up and down with rank. Creating long sequences relies on moving in both directions for rank. For example, if you pair the waste pile three of clubs with a four of hearts in the tableau, the four becomes the new waste pile card. You can go backward, and match a three of diamonds from the tableau with the four of hearts, and you can go forward again and match the new waste pile card (three of diamonds) with a four of spades.
• Reveal as many new cards as you can. If you have a choice between a top card that’s blocking one new card, or one that’s blocking two new cards, always pick the option that will reveal two cards. This will increase your odds of getting new cards you can play quickly.
• Use the hint button. You can use our hint button to help you identify which cards to move or our undo button to try different moves.

How Difficult Is Tripeaks Solitaire?

Tripeaks Solitaire is easy in difficulty. When looking at 161,604 random games played, 82,489 were won for a win rate of 51.04%. This is higher than Klondike’s win rate of 32.91% and much higher than a similar pairing game, Golf, with a win rate of only 16.27%.

Other Games You’d Enjoy like Spider Solitaire and FreeCell

If you like Tripeaks Solitaire, you can try some variations that have a similar goal of matching and pairing to clear the tableau:

• Golf Solitaire follows the same rank pairing as Tripeaks, but its seven-column layout makes it more challenging.
• Pyramid Solitaire requires you to clear the single-pyramid tableau by pairing available cards that add up to 13.
• Mahjong Solitaire has you clearing a tableau by matching tiles in different layouts.
• Spider Solitaire 1 Suit and 2 Suits has you build the foundations within the tableau.
• FreeCell Solitaire allows you to use four open cells to place any playable card to help solve the game.