Tri Peaks (game)

Last updated April 16, 2023

Tri Peaks (also known as Three Peaks, Tri Towers or Triple Peaks) is a patience or solitaire card game that is akin to the solitaire games Golf and Black Hole. The game uses one deck and the object is to clear three peaks made up of cards. It was created by Robert Hogue in 1989, and popularized as a result of being included in Microsoft Solitaire Collection.^[1]

Gameplay

The game starts with eighteen cards dealt face-down on the tableau to form three face-down "pyramids" of six cards each, and a row of ten cards beneath. This is built by dealing out ten cards face-up in a row; then nine cards face-down above them, offset by half a card to the right; then six cards above those, offset by the same amount (and leaving a one-card gap after the second and fourth cards); then three cards to cap the three pyramids.

The twenty-four remaining cards make up the stock. The first card from the stock is put in the waste pile (sometimes known as the foundation/discard). For a card in the tableau to be moved to the waste pile, it must be a rank higher or lower regardless of suit. This card becomes the new top card and the process is repeated several times (e.g. 7-8-9-10-9-10-J-10-9-8, etc.) until the sequence stops. Along the way, any face-down cards that are no longer overlapping are turned up.

In case the sequence is stopped, i.e. no card on the tableau can be put over the top card of the waste pile, a card is placed on the waste pile from the stock to see if it can start a new sequence. Cards are transferred from the stock to the waste pile one at a time as long as it does not begin a new sequence with the cards on the tableau.

If there is no scoring being tracked, the game is won if all three peaks are cleared before or after the last card from the stock is discarded to the waste pile. However, the game is lost if there are still cards that cannot be placed on the waste pile after the stock has run out. When a scoring system is used, the game takes on different strategies depending on the rules. For example, in the original TriPeaks game, winning was less about clearing the peaks, and more about the tactics of making the best choices to create better winnings and limit losses by possibly quitting early.

TriPeaks can also be played with a wild card. This variation makes it easier to clear all three peaks. It is also possible to make all cards in the peaks face-up; this makes the game more thoughtful and strategic. It is also possible that the waste pile is empty so that one of the exposed cards can be chosen to go to the waste pile for a "head-start".

History

TriPeaks was invented in 1989 by Robert Hogue. Hogue has performed computer statistical analysis on the original game, which shows over 90% of all the games dealt are completely solvable and, under the original scoring system, an average of 60 is theoretically possible, which indicates the scoring system is balanced in such a way that the cost of the stock is paid for from the creation of the appropriate streaks during game play. This leaves all the bonus points for the player if the player has played the hand perfectly. Of course, since only a portion of the cards are known at the time of deal, the possibility of playing a perfect hand becomes very difficult. The average score per hand for most people is around 12. Players with better strategies and tactics have averaged over 17.

The original game shipped in Windows Entertainment Pack 3, and was eventually included as a standard part of in Microsoft Solitaire Collection. TriPeaks was created to allow for other layouts. The three peak layout was the original, but it was the intention of the inventor for others to adopt new layouts and create scoring rules to balance those new card layouts. In that regard, TriPeaks has been modified extensively and shipped in many different card packs.

TriPeaks has appeared on casino electronic games in Las Vegas.^{[ citation needed ]}

Related Research Articles

Games of patience, or (card) solitaires as they are usually called in North America, have their own 'language' of specialised terms such as "building down", "packing", "foundations", "talon" and "tableau". Once learnt they are helpful in describing, succinctly and accurately, how the games are played. Patience games are usually for a single player, although a small number have been designed for two and, in rare cases, three or even four players. They are games of skill or chance or a combination of the two. There are three classes of patience grouped by object.

Klondike, also known as Canfield, is a card game for one player and the best known and most popular version of the patience or solitaire family, something which "defies explanation" as it has one of the lowest rates of success of any such game. Partly because of that, it has spawned numerous variants including Batsford, Easthaven, King Albert, Thumb and Pouch, Somerset or Usk and Whitehead, as well as the American variants of the games, Agnes and Westcliff. The distinguishing feature of all variants is a triangular layout of the tableau, building in ascending sequence and packing in descending order.

Pyramid is a patience or solitaire game of the Simple Addition family, where the object is to get all the cards from the pyramid to the foundation.

Perpetual Motion is a Patience game which has the objective of discarding playing cards from the tableau. The name relates to the time-consuming process of the game. It is also called Idiot's Delight or Narcotic.

The Carpet is a patience or solitaire game where the object is to discard all cards to the foundations where the aces are already dealt. It is a simple game relatively easy to get out more often than not.

Gargantua is a patience or solitaire card game that is a version of Klondike using two decks. It is also known as Double Klondike and as Jumbo.

Canfield (US) or Demon (UK) is a patience or solitaire card game with a very low probability of winning. It is an English game first called Demon Patience and described as "the best game for one pack that has yet been invented". It was popularised in the United States in the early 20th century as a result of a story that casino owner Richard A. Canfield had turned it into a gambling game, although it may actually have been Klondike and not Demon that was played at his casino. As a result it became known as Canfield in the United States, while continuing to be called Demon Patience in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. It is closely related to Klondike, and is one of the most popular games of its type.

British Square is a patience or solitaire card game which uses two decks of 52 playing cards each. It is a fan-type game in the style of La Belle Lucie. It has an unusual feature of switchback building whereby each foundation is first built up and then built down.

Eagle Wing is a Patience game which is played with a deck of 52 playing cards. The game takes its name from the tableau which depicts an eagle-like bird spreading its wings in flight. It is somewhat related to the Canfield variant Storehouse.

Red and Black is a patience or card solitaire which uses two decks of playing cards. The game is so called because all building is done in alternating colors of red and black. It is not related to another similarly named solitaire game of Rouge et Noir, although Red and Black can also be known under that name. It is part of the Napoleon at St Helena family of patiences and solitaires.

Rouge et Noir is a patience card game which is played using two decks of playing cards. It is a unique game where two types of building are done in the same game.

Kings in the Corner, or King's Corners is a multi-player patience or solitaire-style card game for two to four players using a standard 52-card pack.

Duchess or Glenwood is a patience or solitaire card game which uses a deck of 52 playing cards. It has all four typical features of a traditional patience or solitaire game: a tableau, a reserve, a stock or talon and a wastepile. It is relatively easy to get out. It is a reserved packer, the same type of game as Canfield or Demon. Arnold describes it as "an interesting game with a fair chance of a favourable outcome."

Westcliff is the name of two closely-related patience or card solitaire games of the simple packer type, both of which are played using a deck of 52 playing cards. One version is particularly easy to win, with odds of 9 in 10; the other is harder with odds closer to 1 in 4. The game has a variant, Easthaven.

Emperor is an English patience or solitaire card game which is played using two packs of playing cards. Although similar to other members of the large Napoleon at St Helena family, Emperor introduced the unique and distinguishing feature of worrying back as well as the novel term "sealed packet".

German Patience is a solitaire card game which is played with two decks of playing cards shuffled together. It is an unusual game because building in the tableau or playing area is up, as opposed to building down in many others. Despite its name, it is not known if this game originated from Germany.

Napoleon's Square is a patience or solitaire card game which uses two decks of playing cards. First described in a revised edition of Lady Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Patience or Solitaire in the early 1900s, it is an easy variation of Napoleon at St Helena. It is not determined if Napoleon actually played this game, or any solitaire game named after him.

Four Seasons is a patience or card solitaire which is played with a single deck of playing cards. It is also known as Corner Card and Vanishing Cross, due to the arrangement of the foundations and the tableau respectively. Another alternate name is Cross Currents.

Jubilee is the name given to two solitaire card games, both played with two decks of playing cards. Both games are so-called because they were created during the time of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. One of the games has an ornate layout, while the other is simpler and it belongs to the family of games which include Sir Tommy, Strategy, and Calculation.

Golf, also known as One Foundation, is a patience or solitaire card game where players try to earn the lowest number of points over the course of nine deals. It has a tableau of 35 face-up cards and a higher ratio of skill to luck than most other solitaire card games. Its easy game-play also makes it within easy reach of first-timers, while still offering scope for strategic play.

References

↑ TriPeaks Solitaire, Microsoft. Retrieved 14 October 2020.

Tri Peaks (game)

Contents

Gameplay

History

Related Research Articles

References

See also