TriPeaks Solitaire Strategy Guide
TriPeaks is the fast, streaky solitaire. Three overlapping peaks of cards are cleared by playing a card one rank above or below the card on the waste, and a good run can wipe out half a peak in a single turn. The game looks like pure luck but rewards looking ahead. This guide shows how to read the peaks, protect your stock and build the long runs that win.
Opening principles
The three peaks hold 28 cards. The bottom ten start face up, and the rest turn over as the cards covering them are removed. The other 23 cards are the stock, and one of them starts on the waste. Suits never matter, and Ace and King count as neighbours. You win when all 28 peak cards are gone, whatever is left in the stock.
- Read the board before the first tap. Look at the waste card and find every face-up card one rank above or below it. There are often several choices.
- Pick the choice with the longer run. For each option, follow the chain: after this card, what is the next one, and the one after that? Choose the path that goes farthest.
- Uncover cards, not just clear them. A card is free only when both cards that touch it from the row below are gone, so favour moves that turn cards over.
- Do not turn the stock until nothing fits. A stock card is a fresh start, so spend one only when you need it.
The stock is your reserve
There is no redeal, so each stock card is a single chance to restart a run when you are stuck. Hope to finish with some of them unused: every card left in the stock is a card you did not need.
- Count the stock. Know how many cards you have left against how many peak cards remain.
- Do not spend a stock card on a short run. If it would only let you play one more card, check whether a different order on the peaks gives you a longer chain first.
- A stock card that opens a long run is worth it. The aim is to turn each one into as many peak cards as you can.
Clearing the peaks
Neighbouring peaks share cards in their lower rows, so a card in the overlap covers cards of both peaks at once. Removing it can free cards on both sides.
- Clear toward the middle. Cards that uncover face-down cards give you more choices on the next turn. Edge cards can wait.
- Watch the overlaps. Cards between two peaks are often your best targets.
- Think about the endings. The top card of each peak is the last to leave, and its rank may be one you cannot reach later. Plan the endings, not just the openings.
- Keep both directions open. A waste card can be matched up or down, so keep cards of both neighbouring ranks available instead of using one side up early.
Common mistakes
- Taking the first card that fits. There is usually a better one. Check the options before you tap.
- Forgetting that Ace and King connect. A run can turn the corner from King to Ace, and some deals are won only that way.
- Burning the stock early. Turning cards before checking every move wastes the one thing you cannot get back.
- Stranding a rank. If every card of both neighbouring ranks is gone, the cards of the middle rank can no longer be reached from the waste except through the stock. Keep a tally per rank, as in Pyramid.
- Not using Undo. A run is a chain, and the easiest way to find the longest is to try one, see how far it goes, and step back.
Advanced techniques
- Plan the run before you start it. Follow the whole chain in your head, including which cards it uncovers, then play it fast.
- Save a flexible card. A card in the middle of a run of ranks can go up or down, so keep one of those for later when you are short of options.
- Use the Solver after a loss. It reveals whether the position could still have been won and where the game was decided.
- Play for fewer stock cards. Instead of just winning, try to win with more of the stock left. It trains you to build longer runs.
How winnable are the deals?
Some random TriPeaks deals have no winning line, and we have not measured a percentage, so we do not quote one. Solitaire Play does not pre-screen TriPeaks deals. The Solver in the menu tells you whether the current position can still be won, and Hint shows the next move of a winning line when the solver finds one.
Because the stock never recycles, the order of the cards matters a great deal. When a game goes wrong, a particular turn of the stock often decides it, and the Solver is the quickest way to find out which.
Practice and play
Play for a while with the single aim of finding the longest run on every turn. You will find that the first option is often not the best one. Another useful exercise is to finish each game and count the stock cards you still have; a steady rise in that number is the clearest sign that your runs are getting longer and your planning is getting sharper.