How to play Mahjong

Mahjong Solitaire is played with a full 144-tile mahjong set stacked into the shape known as the turtle: a broad base of 87 tiles with four smaller layers piled on top and a single tile capping the lot. Your job is to take the whole pile apart, two tiles at a time.

Two tiles match when they show the same face — the same number in the same suit, the same wind, the same dragon. The two bonus classes are looser: any flower matches any other flower, and any season matches any other season, which is why there are thirty-six matching groups rather than thirty-four.

The catch is which tiles you are allowed to touch. A tile is free only when nothing rests on top of it and either its left or its right side is clear — a tile wedged between two neighbours on the same layer cannot move even though you can see it perfectly well. Blocked tiles are dimmed, so the board always tells you what is in play.

Every board on this page is dealt solvable. It is built by simulating a winning game backwards, taking two free positions at a time until the layout is empty and then laying a matched pair at each of those positions, so replaying that order always clears it. If you run out of moves, the route was yours rather than the deal's — and Shuffle re-deals what is left by the same method, so the board is still solvable afterwards. On a phone the game opens on the Tower, a taller four-layer stack with bigger tiles; pick either layout, or the daily board, from New.

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Tips & strategy

• Work downwards. Taking tiles off the upper layers frees far more of the board than clearing loose pairs around the edges, and the cap tile is holding four others hostage.
• Before you take a pair, look for a third and fourth of the same face. Clearing two of a four-set can strand the other two under something heavy — take the buried ones first.
• The long rows at the top and bottom only open from their ends, so a tile in the middle of one needs everything to one side of it gone. Start those early.
• The free-pairs counter is the real health bar. When it drops to one or two you are close to stuck, so spend that move opening the board rather than scoring.
• Undo is unlimited and costs nothing — if a pair turns out to have been a mistake, walk it back rather than reaching for the shuffle, which costs score.

Mahjong FAQ

Is every Mahjong board solvable?

On this page, yes. Each board is built by simulating a winning game backwards and laying a matched pair at every position it cleared, so at least one full solution always exists.

When can I take a tile?

When nothing rests on top of it and its left or right side is clear. A tile with neighbours on both sides is blocked, even on the top layer, and blocked tiles are shown dimmed.

How do flowers and seasons work?

They are the two loose groups: any flower matches any other flower, and any season matches any other season. They do not have to be identical the way suited tiles do.

Is Mahjong free on Skorven?

Completely free in the browser, with no download and no signup. Sign in only if you want your score on the leaderboard.