All scoring in Pyramid revolves around the Bonus, the value of which is displayed constantly. The game starts with the Bonus at 100 points and is counted down at a rate of 1 point every 3 seconds. If you're playing Rule 3 or 4 then the Bonus will reset to 100 each time you gather the stock (assuming it's higher than 100).
Good Points | |||
| Discarding a pair of cards totalling 13 | 1 x Bonus | ||
| Discarding a King | 2 x Bonus | ||
| Demolishing a row of the pyramid | Bonus Increases by 50 Points | ||
| Clearing out the reserve | Bonus Increases by 50 Points | ||
Bad Points | |||
| Every time Undo is used | |||
| Each Re-deal (Rules 3 and 4) | |||
If you manage to win the game then the Bonus x 10 will be added to your score.
To achieve the big scores, you need to increase the Bonus to a nice respectable level as soon as possible by clearing out the pyramid and reserve quickly. This will result in you being awarded more points for all further pairs. As Kings are worth double, it's best to leave them as long as possible until the bonus has been cranked up nice and high. Theoretical maximum scores are 15,500 for 6 row pyramids and 16,000 for 7 rows.