Tri Peaks Solitaire Strategy: 9 Tips to Win More
Tri Peaks looks like a game of pure luck. You tap whatever fits and hope for the best. But play a few dozen games and you notice that some people win far more often than others. The difference is almost always the same handful of habits. None of them is hard, and none needs a good memory. They just ask you to pause for a second before you tap.
These tips assume the standard rules, with Kings and Aces wrapping around. If you need a refresher, the Tri Peaks rules are on their own page.
1. Think in runs, not single cards
Count the cards and you'll see why. You get 24 fresh starts in a game: the card that begins the pile, plus 23 stock cards. There are 28 cards on the peaks. If each fresh start let you remove just one card, you would finish with four cards still on the table. To win, you need runs: two, three, five cards in a row from a single start.
So before you tap the first card that fits, trace the path with your eyes. Suppose the pile shows a 9 and you can see an 8, a 10, a Jack and a Queen. The 8 fits, but nothing follows it. The 10 leads to the Jack and then the Queen: three cards from one start. Play the 10. The 8 will still be there when another 9 or a 7 turns up.
2. Choose the card that uncovers something
When two cards fit and the runs are the same length, play the one that turns a face-down card over. A card that is already face up will still be there later. A face-down card might be exactly the rank you need, and you can't use it until you see it.
To spot these, look for a card whose neighbor is already gone. Each hidden card has two cards lying on it. If one of the two has been played, the other one is the key: play it and the hidden card turns over.
3. Change direction to keep a run alive
New players tend to count in one direction only: 5, 6, 7, 8. But you may turn around as often as you like. With a 6, two 7s and an 8 showing, the run 6, 7, 8, 7 takes all four cards, while going straight up takes only three. Whenever you see two cards of the same rank, look for a way to visit that rank twice by going past it and coming back.
4. Keep all three peaks moving
It is tempting to tear down one peak completely. The trouble is that the other two peaks keep their cards face down the whole time, and at the end you are left with a tall stack of unknown cards and a thin stock.
Try to lower the peaks evenly instead. Every card you turn face up anywhere on the table is one more choice on every later move. A wide table with many face-up cards makes long runs. A narrow one makes you depend on the stock.
5. Clear the bottom row early
The ten cards of the bottom row cover nine cards of the next row. Until those go, nothing new appears. In the first half of the game, a play from the bottom row is nearly always better than a play from higher up, because it brings a hidden card closer to turning over. Pay special attention to the cards in the valleys between the peaks: they are holding down cards on two peaks at once.
6. Don't turn a stock card while something fits
It sounds obvious, but it is the most common mistake. When one card fits and you don't much like where it leads, it is tempting to turn the stock and hope for better. Nearly always, play the card. It is one card fewer on the table for free.
There is one exception. Late in the game, a card is sometimes worth more a little later than it is now. Say the pile shows a 5, the only card that fits is a 6, and you can see a 7 that is one move away from being uncovered. Once it is, that 7 will need a 6 or an 8 under it. Holding your 6 back for a turn can be the winning move. This is rare. If in doubt, play the card.
7. Keep a rough count of ranks
There are four of each rank in the deck. You don't need to memorize the pile, but it pays to notice the ranks that have nearly run out. If three Queens have gone by, a King left on the table can now be removed only by the last Queen or by an Ace. That tells you to save an Ace for it if you can, rather than spending your Aces on 2s.
The same idea in reverse: if a rank is plentiful on the table, say three 9s showing, then 8s and 10s are worth a great deal, because each one can clear a 9. Try not to waste them.
8. Use the King–Ace corner
With the standard rules, the King and Ace are neighbors, so the ranks have no dead ends. Many players forget this in the heat of the moment. A run can go Queen, King, Ace, 2, or 2, Ace, King, Queen. When you're looking for something to put on an Ace, check for Kings as well as 2s.
If you play with the wrap turned off, Kings and Aces become the hardest cards on the table. Each can be removed by only one rank. In that game, take every chance to clear a King with a Queen or an Ace with a 2, even if another move looks a little better.
9. Use Undo to learn, and Hint when you're stuck
In our Tri Peaks game, Undo is unlimited. That makes it a fine teacher. When a run ends sooner than you hoped, step back and try the other branch. You will soon get a feel for which choices open the table up.
The Hint button works the way a careful player does. It only looks at cards you can see. It finds the card that starts the longest visible run, and when runs are equal, it prefers the card that uncovers the most. It also tells you its reason, so you can decide whether you agree.
Practice idea: turn on "Show all cards face up" in Settings for a few games. With nothing hidden, Tri Peaks becomes a pure planning puzzle, and you can practice tracing long runs. Then switch back and see how much more you notice. The variations page has more about this option.
When a deal seems hopeless
Every deal you get from New Game has been won by our solver, so a path exists. If you reach the end of the stock with cards left, the turning point was usually early: a short run taken instead of a long one, or a peak left untouched. Choose Try This Deal Again and play the first ten moves differently. Winning a deal on the second try is still a win, and it is the fastest way to get better.
Enjoy this kind of look-ahead thinking? FreeCell rewards it even more, since every card is visible from the start. Golf solitaire uses the same one-up, one-down rule with a different layout, and Pyramid solitaire has you clearing a single big peak by pairing cards that add up to 13.