3 Keys Solitaire is a timed card game similar to TriPeaks Solitaire. The player needs to remove columns of face-up and face-down cards from the playfield. The columns also have keys attached in different places. The player makes selections using high-low, next-card rules from TriPeaks to remove the cards and retrieve the keys.
In the first of 10 levels, the game displays seven columns, a 36-card draw pile, 4 Jokers and 1 face-up top card. It also offers two locked areas. The keys unlock these zones to reveal additional face-up cards the player can use to remove the column cards from the playfield faster. In the upper-right area, it displays the level number, the player's accumulated score and a countdown digital clock.
The player draws cards based on the next highest or lowest in ascending or descending standard order. For example, they might select a 2 card when the top face-up card is an Ace (A). They can select cards from any suit. They can even go in reverse, such as selecting a King (K) when the face-up card is an Ace. They can use a Joker to replace any card in the sequence.
It's important to note that 3 Keys Solitaire draws two and later three cards with each selection from the draw pile after the player unlocks the two extra face-up cards. When this happens, the player loses one to two cards per turn. If they don't have more than half of the cards removed from the columns by that point, they are more likely to fail the level.
