Play Escalator Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)

Clear a 28-card pyramid by riding Golf-style runs up and down the ranks, then squeeze every last play from a single pass through the stock.

Escalator Solitaire crosses two of the most popular one-deck solitaires: the cards are dealt in the triangular layout of Pyramid, but you clear them with the up-or-down matching rule of Golf. Twenty-eight cards form a face-up pyramid, a single card starts the foundation, and the rest of the deck waits in a fanned stock. Suits and colors play no part — only ranks matter — so every deal comes down to reading the pyramid and choosing the order of your plays. The game is quick and played with a single deck, and your odds of victory are determined by a mix of luck and careful planning.

Escalator borrows its layout from Pyramid Solitaire and its matching rule from Golf Solitaire, so fans of either will feel right at home.

The classic Solitaire game is only a click away if you'd rather skip the pyramid entirely.

If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.

Have fun!

How to play Escalator Solitaire

Layout:

Pyramid: 28 cards are dealt face-up in seven overlapping rows, from one card at the top to seven cards at the bottom. Each card is covered by the two cards below it, and only fully uncovered cards may be played.

1 foundation pile: One card is dealt here at the start of the game. Build up or down by one rank, regardless of suit. The pile has no size limit.

Stock: The remaining 23 cards lie face-up in a fan. Click the stock to deal its next card onto the foundation. There is only one pass through the stock and no redeals.

Objective:

Remove all 28 cards from the pyramid. You do not have to play out the whole stock — the game is won the moment the pyramid is empty, even if cards are left over in the fan.

Pyramid:

The pyramid is dealt entirely face-up, so you can see every card from the first move. The seven cards in the bottom row are exposed right away, and a card higher up becomes available as soon as the two cards covering it have been removed.

An available pyramid card may be played onto the foundation whenever it is exactly one rank above or one rank below the foundation's top card. Suit and color are irrelevant. Pyramid cards can only go to the foundation; they may not be moved around within the pyramid.

Foundation:

There is one foundation pile, started with a single card dealt at the beginning of the game.

A card can be added to the foundation only if it's one rank higher or one rank lower than the pile's current top card, whatever its suit. On an 8, for example, you may play any 7 or any 9. Ranks do not wrap around: only a 2 may play on an Ace, and only a Queen on a King, which makes Aces and Kings natural run-stoppers.

With a bit of planning you can ride long "escalator" runs up and down the ranks — 8, 9, 10, 9, 8, 7, for instance — and clear several pyramid cards off the back of a single stock card. The longer the run, the fewer stock cards you burn.

The top card of each foundation can be moved back into play if another pile will accept it.

Stock:

The 23 cards left over after the deal form the stock, spread face-up so you always know what is coming.

When you click on the stock, one card is dealt directly onto the foundation and becomes its new top card. You only get one pass through the stock, so squeeze every possible pyramid play out of each foundation card before dealing the next one. Because the stock is open information, it often pays to skip a tempting play now so that a later stock card can start a longer run.