Mahjong Solitaire

How to Play Mahjong Solitaire

Mahjong Solitaire — sometimes called Mahjong Solitaire or Shanghai — is a single-player tile puzzle built from a 144-tile set stacked into a layered pyramid. The set mixes three numbered suits (Circles, Bamboo, and Characters), the four winds, the three dragons, and the special Flower and Season tiles. Your job is to take the whole structure apart, two tiles at a time.

You may only remove a tile that is free: it must have nothing stacked on top of it and at least one long side — left or right — unblocked. Tap two matching free tiles and they vanish together. Matches are identical suit tiles, the same wind, or the same dragon; Flowers and Seasons are looser, since any Flower pairs with any other Flower and any Season with any other Season.

Every pair you clear can unlock tiles that were pinned beneath or beside it, so the board slowly opens up as you play. Every deal here is built to be solvable, but order still matters — remove the wrong pair and you can strand its twins. When you're truly stuck, the Shuffle button remixes the remaining tiles. Clear the last pair and the board is yours.

Strategy Tips for Mahjong Solitaire

• Look before you match. When three or four of a tile are showing, pick the pair that frees the most buried tiles rather than the nearest one.
• Free the blockers first. Tiles capping tall stacks or locking a whole row are the ones worth prioritizing.
• Keep Flowers and Seasons in reserve. Because any Flower or Season matches its group, they're flexible — save them to break a deadlock.
• Work the edges and top. Clearing from the outside in exposes the interior tiles that tend to trap you late in a board.
• Don't blindly clear every visible pair. Removing a pair too early can bury its partners' partners — think a move ahead.
• Use Shuffle as a rescue, not a crutch. Exhaust your genuine options first; a good look often reveals a match you missed.

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