Mahjong Solitaire

#mahjong#solitaire#tiles#matching#classic

How to play

Click a free tile (top clear, one side open), then click a matching free tile to remove the pair. Use Hint to find a move and Shuffle if you get stuck. Clear all tiles to win.

About Mahjong Solitaire

Mahjong Solitaire is a matching puzzle built from the tiles of the Chinese game mahjong, though the two play nothing alike. There are no other players and no hands to build — just a stack of tiles arranged in a layered pattern, and the quiet problem of taking it apart in the right order.

The rule is simple enough to state in one sentence: match two identical tiles that are both free. A tile is free when nothing sits on top of it and at least one of its left or right sides is open. That single restriction is what turns a matching game into a puzzle, because the tile you want is very often buried under the tile you should have moved first.

The mistake nearly everyone makes early is matching greedily. Two identical tiles are visible, so you take them — and in doing so you strip the support from a pair you needed later, or you leave two copies of a tile stranded on the same row where only one can ever be free. Good play means scanning for tiles that appear four times and thinking about which pair to spend, keeping the other two as insurance.

The classic turtle layout is the one most people picture, and it is a reasonable place to learn the shapes. Tiles come from the traditional mahjong set — circles, bamboo, characters, winds and dragons, plus the seasons and flowers, which match by group rather than by exact face. Recognising those groups at a glance takes a few games and speeds everything up afterwards.

Hint and shuffle are there when a board genuinely locks up, and they are worth using rather than restarting. It plays well on a phone and just as well with a mouse, and a single board is a comfortable ten to fifteen minutes — long enough to feel like something, short enough for a break.

Frequently asked questions

Is Mahjong Solitaire free to play?

Yes. Mahjong Solitaire is free in your browser on ArcadeWhale, with no download, no installation and no account needed.

Is this the same as the real game of mahjong?

No, and the difference surprises people. Mahjong Solitaire is a single-player tile-matching puzzle that borrows the tiles from mahjong. The traditional game of mahjong is a four-player game where players draw and discard tiles to build a winning hand, closer in spirit to rummy.

What makes a tile "free" so I can match it?

A tile can be matched when no tile is stacked on top of it and either its left or its right edge is clear. A tile with neighbours on both sides is blocked even if nothing is on top of it, and a tile with anything above it is blocked regardless of its sides.

What do I do when there are no matches left?

Use the shuffle button, which rearranges the remaining tiles so play can continue. Some boards genuinely reach a dead end because of the order tiles were removed in, so a shuffle is a normal part of the game rather than a failure.

Do the flower and season tiles have to match exactly?

No. Flowers match any other flower, and seasons match any other season, unlike every other tile which must match its exact twin. That makes them easier pairs to clear when you spot them.

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