One rank up or down. Chain the cards and three peaks come down in a couple of minutes.
TriPeaks is the solitaire you play when you have two minutes rather than twenty. Twenty-eight cards sit in three overlapping peaks; you take any uncovered card that is one rank above or below the card showing, and each card you take becomes the next target. String them together and a whole peak comes down in one long run.
Klondike and FreeCell are about building piles. TriPeaks is about picking, and it plays completely differently: there are no foundations, no columns to sort, and nothing to plan five moves ahead. The whole skill sits in choosing which of the two or three available cards to take, because that choice decides what you can reach next.
The goal is to clear all twenty-eight cards from the three peaks before the stock runs out.
Anyone can take one card. The satisfying part is spotting a run — nine, ten, twelve cards taken without touching the stock — and that comes from picking the card that keeps the chain alive rather than the one nearest your finger.
Any card whose rank is directly above or below the one showing. A seven takes a six or an eight. The Ace closes the circle: it goes on a King or a two, and a King or a two goes on it.
Because something is still resting on it. Every card in the peaks is covered by two cards from the row below, and it only becomes playable once both of those are gone.
No, and that is the game. The stock is what limits you, so every card you flip is one you no longer have — which is exactly why a long chain is worth hunting for.
Usually one to three minutes, which is why TriPeaks suits a break rather than a sitting.
Yes, completely, and there is no account to create.