The Two Towers: Trick-Taking Game supports one and two players with two different procedures. Two humans use a third, partly open hand arranged as a pyramid. A solo player manages four hands, adding cards from a draw deck between tricks. Both preserve the chapter’s character-goal puzzle, but each changes what information and handling you have. This page focuses on those differences; the main rules guide covers tricks, Towers and Orcs.

Two players: build a third hand

Set up the selected chapter as a three-player game and deal a 12-card third hand to a card pyramid between the humans. For the standard arrangement, make a top row of three cards (two faceup, one facedown), cover it slightly with a middle row of four facedown cards, then cover that with a bottom row of five faceup cards. Chapter-specific diagrams may alter the arrangement, so check the relevant page. The pyramid takes a character and acts as the third player in the round.

The first player assigned a character controls the pyramid: they choose its character at setup and select its playable card during each trick. Use the three-player side of character cards. Only uncovered cards can be played from the pyramid. When a facedown card becomes uncovered, reveal it after the current trick as the rulebook directs. The third hand is therefore partly predictable but not fully known at the outset.

Exchanges and special cards with the pyramid

The pyramid can exchange with an eligible character, but its exchanges use only uncovered cards in the bottom row. Cards added to the pyramid during setup are placed faceup beside that row, without covering anything. Do not browse the pyramid’s facedown cards to make an exchange. Follow the printed chapter-specific layout for any variation and still apply the ordinary suit-following rule to cards that are currently playable.

Practical consequence: if the visible bottom row contains only one card of the lead suit, the pyramid may have a forced follow even though more cards of that suit could be hidden higher up. You gain public information as the pyramid opens, so counting the exposed cards can help set up a required character goal. You also have an extra character objective to satisfy despite having only two people making choices.

Solo: manage four hands

The official solo setup uses four hands and four characters. The rulebook’s solo section says to set aside the indicated special cards (both Towers in Part 1, or the 1 of Rings in Part 2), place a lost card faceup, then seed four hands with four cards each, including the special card as directed. The remaining cards form a draw deck. Assign the required characters and complete the listed setup steps; the solo rules allow only one character’s exchange per round, even if several characters have exchange actions.

Play all four hands through a trick, keeping each hand’s objective in view. After each trick, each hand gains a faceup card from the draw deck according to the solo procedure, so future options become visible gradually. Win the round by meeting all four assigned goals. Later chapters have solo-specific exceptions and altered deck or event instructions; follow those pages rather than repeating Chapter 19 setup unchanged.

Which player count should you choose?

Two-player play gives each person a private hand and a public, slowly opening third hand. It suits partners who enjoy reasoning over visible choices, though the pyramid adds an extra setup and card-handling step. Solo is a four-hand logic puzzle: there is no teammate’s secret information to infer, but you track more goals at once and replenish hands as specified. Three and four players have the simpler physical setup: each human owns one hand and a character.

If you are new to trick taking, learn one ordinary Chapter 19 round with a three- or four-player group if available, or keep the two-player pyramid diagram and reference card in view. Do not treat the solo procedure as a two-player shortcut; the deal and replenishment are different.

Common setup questions

• Does the pyramid replace a human’s turn? No. It acts as a third player with its own character and plays one card per trick.
• Are the pyramid’s hidden cards available? Only uncovered cards are playable or exchangeable as the relevant rules permit; reveal covered cards when exposed.
• Is solo just four normal full hands? No. The official solo deal seeds four smaller hands and uses a draw deck to add cards between tricks.
• Do later chapters change things? Yes. Consult their specific two-player diagrams and solo notes, especially in Part 2.

Explore this game: Overview · Rules · Strategy · Solo and two players · Chapters and replay modes.

Sources and scope: Office Dog’s English rulebook (PDF, publisher-authored copy) and Office Dog’s product page, checked October 4, 2026. Follow the chapter and event cards in your copy for exceptions. Examples and planning advice are editorial analysis of the published rules, not a claim of firsthand testing.