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Mahjong Solitaire

Match free tiles in pairs to clear the stack.

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Tiles0
Time0:00
Best-
Open pairs0
LayoutPyramid

Tap two matching free tiles to remove them. Flowers match any flower, seasons any season.

How to play Mahjong Solitaire

Goal

Remove all 144 tiles (or every tile in the smaller layouts) by matching free pairs.

  1. 1A tile is free when nothing sits on top of it and its left or right side is open.
  2. 2Tap two free tiles with the same picture to remove them. Any flower matches any flower, and any season matches any season.
  3. 3Clear tiles from the tops and the ends of long rows first, so more tiles open up.
  4. 4Stuck? Use Hint to see a pair or Shuffle to re-deal the remaining tiles.
  5. 5Clear the whole board as fast as you can. Hints add 15 seconds and shuffles add 30.

On a computer

Click tiles. H for a hint, S to shuffle, U or Ctrl+Z to undo, Escape to deselect.

On a phone

Tap two matching free tiles. Use the buttons above the board for hint, shuffle and undo.

Play Mahjong Solitaire free online. Match pairs of free tiles to clear classic Pyramid, Fortress and Turtle layouts. Every deal can be solved. No download.

Mahjong Solitaire tips and strategy

  • Look at the tallest stacks first. Tiles that cover many others are worth removing early.
  • Long rows open from the ends. Clearing an end tile frees the next one in line.
  • When three or four copies of a tile are free, think about which pair to take. Leave the copy that blocks nothing.
  • Flowers match any flower and seasons match any season, so they are easy to use when you need to open a spot.
  • Turn on Free tiles to dim blocked tiles and see your options at a glance.
  • If the Open pairs counter drops to one, slow down and check whether that pair opens new moves.

About Mahjong Solitaire

Mahjong Solitaire is a tile matching puzzle for one player. The tiles come from the four player game of mahjong, but the solitaire version has nothing to do with its rules. You get a stack of tiles arranged in a shape, and you remove them two at a time by matching identical faces. The catch is that you can only take tiles that are free, which means nothing rests on top of them and they can slide out to the left or the right.

The solitaire game became popular on home computers in the 1980s, often under the name Shanghai, and the stacked Turtle layout has been the classic shape ever since. Our version draws every tile from scratch: dots, bamboo and characters numbered one to nine, the four winds, three dragons, four flowers and four seasons. Choose Easy for the 64 tile Pyramid, Medium for the Fortress with its corner towers, or Hard for the full 144 tile Turtle.

Every deal is built backward from an empty table by placing matching pairs on free spots, so there is always at least one way to clear the board. You can still trap yourself with an unlucky order, which is where Undo and Shuffle come in.

Mahjong Solitaire FAQ

Is every Mahjong Solitaire game solvable?

Yes. Each deal is created by placing pairs in reverse, so a full solution always exists. If you get stuck, Shuffle re-deals the remaining tiles and, whenever the shape of the stack allows it, picks a deal that can still be cleared.

What makes a tile free?

A tile is free when no tile sits on top of it, even partly, and at least one of its long sides, left or right, is not touching another tile on the same level.

Do flower and season tiles have to match exactly?

No. Any flower can be paired with any other flower, and any season with any other season. All other tiles must match exactly.

Is this the same as the mahjong game played with four people?

No. It uses the same tile set, but the solitaire game is a matching puzzle for one player with its own rules.

How is my time scored?

Your score is the time it takes to clear the board. Each hint adds 15 seconds and each shuffle adds 30, so the fastest clean clears rank best.

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