Mahjong Solitaire

Clear the layout, pair after pair, down to the last tile.

Up to 144 ivory and jade tiles, stacked in a classic layout: remove them in identical pairs, as long as they are free. Every deal is guaranteed solvable.

Players: 1 player
Length: 5 to 20 min

Solo

Play Mahjong Solitaire

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How to play

Goal

Remove all the tiles from the layout, two at a time. A pair is made of two identical tiles; the four flowers match one another, as do the four seasons.

Free tiles

Only free tiles can be removed: no tile may rest on them, even partially, and at least one of their sides, left or right, must be clear. Blocked tiles are slightly darkened (adjustable option).

Controls

Tap or click: select a free tile, then its twin. Tapping another tile changes the selection.
Long press (touch screen): magnifier, to examine a tile up close; drag to inspect the neighbouring ones.
Shuffle: redistributes the remaining tiles while keeping a solution.
Undo and Hint: in the game bar. Esc key: deselect; M key: shuffle.

The tiles

Circles, bamboos and characters, from 1 to 9, four of each. The 1 of bamboos is a bird; the characters carry a small number in the corner.
Winds: east, south, west and north, marked by their letter and the compass-rose needle.
Dragons: the red pearl, the jade dragon and the blue frame of the white dragon.
Flowers (pink frame) and seasons (blue frame): single copies, interchangeable within their family.

Layouts

Garden (72 tiles), Butterfly (100), then the large 144-tile layouts: Turtle, Pyramid, Fortress, Arena and Pagoda. On a phone in portrait mode, the wide layouts rotate a quarter turn to give larger tiles.

Tip: when all four tiles of a design are free, remove them without hesitation. When only three are, keep the one that blocks nothing: the fourth, still trapped, will come to join it. Clear the long rows and tall stacks first.

About the generator and the solver

Every deal is built backwards: the generator empties the layout by pairs of tiles that are free at the same time, then assigns the designs to those pairs, which guarantees a solution. Several candidate deals are played out in simulated games; the easy levels keep the most open ones, the Expert and Devilish levels the trickiest. The hint queries a solver (safe moves, depth-first search and a memory of losing positions) and points to a pair that preserves a solution; if the position no longer has one, it tells you how many moves to undo. The shuffle redistributes the remaining designs according to a new removal order: the game always remains winnable, as long as the geometry allows it.

Records

The best time is recorded for each level, for games finished without hints or shuffles.

Difficulty levels

EasyThe Garden, 72 tiles on three levels, and very open deals: ideal for getting started.
MediumButterfly or Fortress, with deals that are still generous.
HardTurtle or Arena: all 144 tiles and a few traps to avoid.
ExpertPyramid, Fortress or Turtle, with tight deals: every choice counts.
DiabolicalPagoda, Pyramid or Arena, and the trickiest deals the generator can produce.