Peg Solitaire – Jump Pegs and Leave Just One
A one-player puzzle: jump a peg over a neighbor to capture it and clear the board down to as few pegs as you can. The perfect finish leaves a single peg (in the center on the English board). Choose the English (33-hole) or European (37-hole) board, and step back one move at a time if you slip. Want another puzzle? Try Sudoku.
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- Pegs left
- Moves
- 0
How to use
- Pick the English (33 holes) or European (37 holes) board under "Board". Only the center hole is empty at the start.
- Click or tap a peg. The empty holes it can jump to are highlighted.
- Click a highlighted hole to jump there and capture the peg in between. Jumps go up, down, left or right only.
- Press "Undo" to take back a move or "Reset" to start over. The game ends when no jumps are left or one peg remains.
Notes
- A peg jumps over an adjacent peg, up, down, left or right, and lands in the empty hole beyond it. Diagonal jumps are not allowed.
- On the English board, one peg left in the center is a perfect finish; one peg anywhere else counts as solved. The European board has no solution that ends in the center, so any single peg is a perfect finish there.
- The rank depends on the pegs left at the end: 1 is Genius, 2 is Excellent, 3-4 is Average, 5 or more is Keep trying.
- You can undo as many moves as you like. "Reset" or switching the board returns to the starting layout.
- Progress is not saved. Reloading the page restores the starting layout.
Glossary
Peg solitaire
A one-player board game where pegs fill a board with holes and you remove them by jumping one peg over another. It dates back to 17th-century France and is also called Solitaire or the peg puzzle.
English and European boards
The English board is a cross with 33 holes; the European (French) board has rounded corners and 37 holes. Both start with only the center empty. On the European board, ending with one peg in the center is impossible, so any single peg counts as a perfect finish.
FAQ
What are the rules of peg solitaire?
A peg jumps over an adjacent peg, up, down, left or right, and lands in the empty hole just beyond it. The peg that was jumped is removed. Diagonal jumps are not allowed. The goal is to finish with as few pegs as possible.
What is the difference between the English and European boards?
The English board is a cross with 33 holes. The European board adds one hole at each corner of the cross for 37 holes. Both start with only the center empty, and on the European board it is impossible to end with a single peg in the center (confirmed by exhaustive search).
What counts as a perfect finish?
On the English board, one peg left in the center hole is a perfect finish, and one peg anywhere else counts as solved. The European board has no solution that ends in the center, so any single peg is a perfect finish there. If two or more pegs remain and nothing can jump, you get a rank based on how many are left.
Can I undo a mistake?
Yes. "Undo" takes back your latest jump, and you can keep pressing it to go back as far as the start. The captured pegs come back too. Use "Reset" to start over from the beginning.
Can I play with the keyboard?
Yes. Every hole is a button, so you can Tab to it and press Enter or Space to select a peg and jump. Selectable pegs and valid targets are marked by color and by screen reader labels.
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