- Cards branch
- Cards · node IV
- Played for dew · no cash value
Thorn Pyramid
A patience game for one: clear a pyramid of 28 cards by pairing open cards that add up to thirteen, with one pass through the stock.
Pick a stake, then press Deal.
The games are resting.
A pause is on for this device.
The Library, the field notes and the Clearing stay open. See your settings.
About Thorn Pyramid
Thorn Pyramid is the slow game of the Grove, and the one where your choices count. There is no timer and nothing happens until you act, so a single deal can take a few minutes. The return depends on how far you get through the pyramid: twelve cards cleared gives a little back, twenty or more returns more than you staked, and clearing all twenty-eight returns thirty times.
The interesting part is choosing which pair to take. Two cards can often make thirteen with more than one partner, and taking the one that opens a deeper row usually beats taking the first pair you see. Cards from the waste pile are easy to waste, because once you turn past them they are gone for good.
If you get stuck, Show a pair marks one move that the game would choose: it prefers pairs that clear pyramid cards, especially from the lower rows. It is a helper, not the best possible move, and good players often do better than it.
How to play
- Pick a stake and press Deal. Twenty-eight cards form a pyramid of seven rows; the other twenty-four are the stock.
- A card is open when no card below it overlaps it. Open cards and the top card of the waste pile can be used.
- Pick two open cards that add up to thirteen to clear them: ace and queen, 2 and jack, 3 and 10, and so on. Kings count thirteen and clear on their own.
- Turn a card from the stock onto the waste when you need a new card. The stock is used once; there is no second pass.
- The round ends when the whole pyramid is gone, when no pair is left, or when you press End the round. The return depends on how many pyramid cards you cleared.
Pay table
Every return is a multiple of your stake. Dew has no cash value and nothing here can be exchanged for anything.
| Pyramid cards cleared | Return |
|---|---|
| All 28 | 30× |
| 24 to 27 | 3× |
| 20 to 23 | 1.4× |
| 16 to 19 | 0.7× |
| 12 to 15 | 0.2× |
| 0 to 11 | 0× |
Fair play
Every result comes from your browser's random number generator, through the rules above and nothing else. There is no hidden balancing, no streak memory and no change of odds after a quiet patch or a good run. The same pay table is read by the game and printed on this page.
Questions
Can I go through the stock twice?
No. One pass keeps each deal short and makes the choice of when to turn a card matter.
Does Show a pair find the best move?
It finds a sensible one. It looks only at the cards on the table now, so planning ahead can beat it.
What if I end the round early?
The return is set by the pyramid cards cleared so far, as in the pay table. Nothing is lost by ending a deal you no longer enjoy.
At a glance
- Deck
- one deck, shuffled for each deal
- Pyramid
- 28 cards in 7 rows
- Stock
- 24 cards, one pass
- Pairs
- open cards adding up to 13; kings alone
- Stakes
- 10 to 200 dew per deal
- A round
- 1 to 5 minutes
Where to stop
A patience deal pulls you into one more try. Decide how many deals you want before you start, and use End the round if a deal has turned into a chore.
Set a checkpoint
