Easy difficulty
Thirteens
Simply pair any two exposed cards that add up to thirteen until none remain.
| Decks | One deck |
|---|---|
| Suits | 4 |
| Typical length | 6 min |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| How much skill matters | Low |
| How much the shuffle matters | High |
| Family | Standalone |
| Good for beginners | Yes |
There is no playable version of Thirteens on this site yet — this page covers its rules and strategy. The game suits a touchscreen well, so it is a good candidate once a build exists.
About Thirteens
Thirteens is Pyramid's rule on a simpler layout: ten piles, and you discard pairs adding up to thirteen. Kings, being thirteen already, go on their own.
Where Pyramid buries its cards in a triangle that only unpicks from the bottom, Thirteens gives you ten open piles, so there is nearly always a pair available. That makes it much the friendlier of the two — rated Easy, quick to play, and a reasonable way to introduce the sum-to-thirteen mechanic before attempting Pyramid proper.
How to play
Ten piles, and a single rule: discard any two available cards whose ranks add up to thirteen. Queen goes with Ace, Jack with two, ten with three, nine with four, eight with five, seven with six. A King is worth thirteen on its own, so it is discarded singly. There is no redeal. Clear all fifty-two cards and you have won.
Strategy
The arithmetic is the easy part; the decision is which of several possible partners to use, and the answer is whichever pairing exposes the more useful card underneath. Discard Kings on sight — they need no partner and only ever block what is beneath them. Keep an eye on how many of each rank are left, because running out of, say, sevens leaves every remaining six stranded. Rated Easy, and it is: with ten piles in play there is almost always something to take.
What works
- Ten open piles mean a pair is nearly always available
- Rated Easy — a reliable, low-frustration game
- The sum-to-thirteen rule is learned instantly
What to know
- Very little strategic depth
- No redeal
- Running out of one rank strands its counterparts
Frequently asked questions
- How many decks does Thirteens use?
- Thirteens is played with a single standard deck.
- Is Thirteens good for beginners?
- Yes — Thirteens has straightforward rules and is a reasonable game to learn early on.
- Is Thirteens based more on luck or strategy?
- Thirteens is largely determined by how the cards fall — there's limited room for strategy to change the outcome.