Peg Solitaire - Free Brain Game

This peg solitaire puzzle game is over 300 years old. Clear all the pegs but one. To clear a peg, jump over it to an empty space.

This game is part of the free online brain games collection.

To begin, click the Small, Medium, or Large button under the picture of the game. This opens the game in a pop-up window.

If you like this game, you might enjoy Bloxorz.

Peg Solitaire Game - Instructions

Can you find the right moves to get down to one piece in this logic and strategy classic? This one-person strategy game really makes you concentrate.

This game includes 13 different peg board patterns -- including the classic triangle (pyramid) peg game as found at Cracker Barrel restaurants in the U.S.

Peg boards you can solve include pyramid, trapezoid, cross (standard), square, European, asymmetric, rhombus, German, triangle, diamond, snowflake, hexagonal, and star.

NOTE: The instructions below are for the old Adobe Flash version of the game.

The version has more board shapes than just the triangle. To begin, click the Small, Medium, or Large button under the picture at left. This opens the game in a pop-up window.

Jump pegs one at a time to remove them from the puzzle board. Masters of this puzzle leave a single peg at the end.

Strategy puzzles like Peg solitaire train important brain skills like logical thinking.

HOW TO PLAY: You goal in Peg solitaire is figure out a pattern of peg jumping that leaves the fewest number of pegs on the triangular board.

The solid-wood board has 15 holes. At the start of the game, each hole contains one peg, except one hole which is empty.

You choose which hole is the empty one. At the beginning, the game indicates that you need to click on the hole position to leave empty.

Depending on your approach to solving the Peg Triangle, you might want to leave a corner slot empty. Or, a hole in the middle or along the edge.

So when the peg solitaire game starts, click any single peg to remove it from the board. Now you are read to start playing!

To jump, first click the peg that is going to jump. Then, click the hole where the peg is going to land (by jumping over an adjacent peg).

Peg Solitaire Game Scoring

As you may know, the number of pegs you leave in the board indicates how smart you are. According to the in-game instructions, if you end up with:

• One Peg = You're a Genius

• Two Pegs = You're Pretty Smart

• Three Pegs = You're Just Average

• Four Pegs or More = Just Plain Dumb

If you leave four or five pegs the first time, don't worry about it too much. It's a brain teaser, so you might have to work at it to improve. Keep practicing and have fun!

I can sometimes get down to two or three pegs remaining. I've played Peg Triangle solitaire on and off for decades.

I've only gotten down to a single peg maybe twice in my life. This puzzle appears simple, but it's actually quite a challenge.

And no, the triangle peg game is not impossible to solve. In fact, there is more than one series of jumps that end with a single peg.

Peg solitaire games like this one actually go way back. There are at least six historic variations of the game in various polygon shapes (other than triangle).

Besides the triangle peg game, there is an octagon peg solitaire with 37 holes, first seen in France in the 1600's. Then there is cross-shaped peg game with 45 holes first played in the 1700's in Germany.

An asymmetrial peg solitaire game in the shape of an off-center cross was seen first in the 20th century. Then there is the standard English wooden peg solitaire, also cross-shaped, with 33 holes.

And let's not forget the diamond-shaped peg solitaire with 41 holes. Besides these six polygon shaped boards, there are also circle peg board games with, for example, 32 holes.

So in fact, the triangle peg game that stumps us all is actually the smallest of the common peg solitaire games. Who knew?

Another Fun Fact: Some sources refer to this puzzle game as the wooden triangle "I.Q. Tester". No wonder. It's a simple but excellent brain game.

Published: 12/01/2007
Last Updated: 06/11/2020