What is peg solitaire?
Peg solitaire is a one-player board game with a simple goal: jump pegs over each other, removing every peg you jump, until only one is left. Each move takes one peg away, so the board slowly empties as you plan your way to a single survivor.
The rules take ten seconds to learn, but a one-peg finish takes real planning. Play peg solitaire online free here on the classic cross, the French octagon, or a new random board every game.
Where peg solitaire comes from
Peg solitaire is one of the oldest puzzle games still widely played. It was known at the French court by the end of the 17th century: an engraving by Claude Auguste Berey dated 1697 shows a princess with a peg board. Two layouts became standard, the 33-hole English cross and the 37-hole French octagon, which adds four holes in the corners of the cross.
How to play here
Pick a board on the start card, then press Play. Drag a peg two holes over a neighboring peg into an empty hole. If the move is legal, the peg lands and the one it jumped disappears. On a phone, drag with your finger. Empty spaces you can move into are drawn as holes; a blank space with no hole isn’t part of the board.
Undo and Redo are in the dock, so you can test a line and take it back. New puzzle gives you a fresh board, and Restart in the pause menu sets up the same one again.
The English board and the centre finish
The classic English board is a cross of 33 holes: a 3×3 centre with four arms of six holes each. In the standard start every hole has a peg except the very centre. The famous challenge is to finish with one peg, and to have that last peg land back in the centre hole where the game began.
Most solutions follow the same shape: clear one arm at a time, using the pegs in the middle as stepping stones, then bring the last few pegs together so the final jump drops into the centre.
A step-by-step way to solve
- Open into the gap. With the middle hole empty, the first jump must land in it. Any of the four possible jumps is fine, since the board is symmetrical.
- Clear one arm at a time. Finish an arm before you start taking pegs from somewhere else.
- Watch for isolated pegs. After each move, look for any peg with no neighbors. If you see one, undo.
- Plan the last five pegs. Count backwards from the finish so the final jump lands where you want it.
Why play peg solitaire?
It’s calm, quick to start, and every game has a clear finish line. If you like it, try Tower of Hanoi for another classic one-player puzzle, or Lights Out for a grid you clear with clever taps.
How to play Peg Solitaire
- A move is a jump: a peg leaps over a neighboring peg, straight up, down, left or right, into the empty hole just beyond it.
- The peg that was jumped over is taken off the board.
- No diagonal jumps, and you can't jump over an empty hole or over two pegs at once.
- You win when only one peg is left. If no jumps remain before that, undo or restart.
Peg Solitaire tips
Clear the arms early
Pegs at the far ends of the cross are the hardest to bring back. Deal with them while there are still pegs nearby to jump over.
Never strand a peg
A peg with no neighbors can never be removed, because nothing can jump it and it can't jump anything. Before each move, check you aren't leaving one alone.
Keep the centre busy
If you want to finish in the middle, don't empty the centre too soon. The pegs around it give you the jumps you need at the end.
Frequently asked questions
Is every peg solitaire board solvable?
Not from every starting hole. On the 33-hole English board, the start with the centre empty can be solved down to one peg, even with that peg ending in the centre. On the 37-hole French board, the centre-empty start can't be solved to one peg. Every random board here is generated with a known solution.
What is the trick to peg solitaire?
There is no single trick, but a plan helps. Clear the outer arms first, keep pegs in groups so none get stranded, and save the centre for last. Undo costs nothing, so try a line and take it back if it leaves a lonely peg.
What is the fewest number of moves to solve the English board?
If a run of jumps by the same peg counts as one move, 18. Ernest Bergholt found an 18-move solution in 1912, and John Beasley proved in 1964 that none is shorter. Counted jump by jump, every solution takes 31 jumps, one for each peg removed.
