Peg Solitaire

Goal

Remove pegs from the board, one at a time, by jumping over them. You win by leaving exactly one peg on the board. If that last peg ends up on the hole that started empty, it's a Perfect Win.

How a move works

Every move is a jump. To jump:

1. Pick a peg that has another peg directly next to it (no gap in between).
2. The hole on the far side of that neighbour must be empty.
3. Your peg jumps over the neighbour and lands in the empty hole.
4. The peg you jumped over is removed from the board.

Which directions can pegs jump?

• English & European boards: jumps are horizontal (left ↔ right) or vertical (up ↕ down) only. No diagonals.
• Triangular (Cracker Barrel) board: pegs jump along the rows or along either of the triangle's two diagonal axes — 6 possible directions in total.

How to make a move — Mouse

1. Click a peg to select it. The selected peg shows a glowing amber ring.
2. Any empty holes that are valid jump destinations light up with a dotted amber border and a small arrow.
3. Click one of those highlighted holes to jump the selected peg there.
4. To deselect without moving, click the selected peg again or click anywhere outside the board.

How to make a move — Touch (phone & tablet)

1. Tap a peg to select it.
2. Tap a highlighted empty hole to jump there.
3. Tap the selected peg a second time to deselect.

How to make a move — Keyboard

1. Press Tab until the board is focused.
2. Use the arrow keys to move focus from cell to cell.
3. Press Space or Enter on a peg to select it.
4. Move focus to a highlighted destination hole and press Space or Enter again to jump.
5. Press Esc at any time to deselect.

Buttons & settings

• Board: switch between English (33), European (37), and Triangular (15) variants.
• Position: Standard starts with the classic empty hole (center for English/European, top apex for Triangular). Random picks a different empty hole using the game number you choose.
• Game # / "Standard" button: click to jump to a specific game by number. Game numbers run from 1 to 33 on the English board, 1 to 37 on European, or 1 to 15 on Triangular — one per valid starting hole, in row-major order from top-left. Every number always produces the same puzzle, so you can share a number with a friend and play the exact same deal.
• Undo: reverses your last move. You can undo all the way back to the start.
• New Game: resets the board to a fresh puzzle.

Tips for new players

• Don't strand pegs in the corners — they can only be removed by being jumped over, so they need a neighbour and a clear landing spot.
• Try to remove pegs from the edges first. Pegs near the edges tend to get stuck more easily.
• The standard English puzzle is provably solvable, but most people need 5–10 tries to find a winning sequence. Use Undo freely while you're learning.
• If no pegs can move, the game is over — you'll see an "Out of moves" message and your score is the number of pegs left (fewer is better).