Tri Peaks

Introduction to TriPeaks

Tripeaks Solitaire is a card game played using a 52-card deck of standard playing cards. It's also known as Three Peaks, Tri Towers, and Triple Peaks, the game was invented by Robert Hogue in 1989.

While Tripeaks Solitaire is a simple game to learn, it's not so simple to beat. Although it's been calculated that over 90% of randomly dealt hands are theoretically solvable, in practice, even experienced players don't come anywhere near to that figure.

A variation of Tripeaks Solitaire called Easy Tripeaks Solitaire adds an option to make winning easier: it allows a King to be placed onto an Ace and vice versa.

Goal

The goal of Tripeaks Solitaire is to empty all the cards from the Tableau into the Foundation. To win the game, the Stock does not have to be emptied.

Rules

When the game starts, 28 cards are dealt face-up into the Tableau in a shape reminiscent of three mountain peaks. There are 4 rows. The bottom row consists of 10 cards, then 9, then 6, and finally 3 cards in the top row. All cards are overlapped by two cards in the row directly under it, except for the bottom row where the cards are said to be exposed and could be put into play.

A single card is dealt face-up into the Foundation. The remaining 23 cards are placed face-down and squared into the Stock.

At any point during the game the player may move any exposed card onto the Foundation as long as it is either next or prior in rank to the current top Foundation card. The newly added card then becomes the current top Foundation card and the process can continue. As cards are removed from the Tableau, they will inevitably cause other cards to become exposed, which themselves could then potentially be moved into the Foundation.

The game does not allow ranks to be wrapped, which means that the player can neither place an Ace onto a King nor a King onto an Ace. However, wrapping is allowed in the Easy Tripeaks Solitaire variant.

No card is ever allowed to be moved from the Foundation pile.

When the player is either unable or unwilling to move any more cards from the Tableau to the Foundation pile, they must click on the Stock, while deals a new top Foundation card. The player then has another opportunity to send cards from the Tableau to the Foundation.

The process continues until either no cards remain in the Tableau, in which case the game is won, or the Stock is empty and no more cards can be removed from the Tableau, in which case the game is lost since the Stock allows only one pass.

If the player wishes, a move may be undone; however, points will be deducted from the score. At any point during gameplay, the player has the option (found in the Menu) of resetting the game to its very beginning.

Strategy

• Since a King can only be placed onto a Queen, the player should track all the Queens to be sure that they are available to use in order to remove all of the Kings from the Tableau. Note that in the Easy Tripeaks Solitaire variant, a King can also be placed onto an Ace.
• Since an Ace can only be placed onto a Two, the player should track all the Twos to be sure that they are available to use in order to remove all of the Aces from the Tableau. Note that in the Easy Tripeaks Solitaire variant, an Ace can also be placed onto a King.
• At the start of a game and before making any moves, the player should scan the Tableau and attempt to devise a plan. Since Kings and Aces both only have one card that they may be moved on top of (except in Easy Tripeaks Solitaire), there are difficult to remove and can block cards underneath them. Of course, other problem areas should be looked for as well.
• Try to find sequences of moves that get rid of several cards at once. Cards may sometimes be included in a potential sequence even if they are not currently exposed, as long as they will be exposed by the time they are to be played.
• It's often advantageous to have several cards that are close rank exposed so that, when the time is right, a long sequence can be moved to the Foundation.
• It's often advantageous, even necessary, to forgo moving a card onto the Foundation.
• When there's a choice between moving one card to the Foundation or another, carefully consider what's beneath each exposed card before making a decision.

Layout

The game screen is made up of 3 different areas.

In the upper part of the screen is the Tableau. This is where cards are laid out at the start of a game and where most of the action occurs during gameplay.

The Stock and the Foundation areas work together. They are located below the Tableau on the left.

The Stock is a container for the reserve cards that will be put into play as the game progresses. It normally contains a pile of face-down squared cards, but it can be empty at the end of a game, where a rectangle the size of a card is then visible.

The Foundation is to the right of the Stock. It consists of one or more face-up cards spread out horizontally, with the top card being on the right.

A click on the Stock causes one card to be removed from it and placed face-up onto the top Foundation card, which brings the card into play.