Mahjong Solitaire is a one-player tile-matching puzzle. You remove two matching, available tiles at a time until the board is empty. The challenge is not just spotting identical pictures: it is choosing pairs that open useful paths through the layers.
The goal and the 144-tile set
A standard board contains 144 tiles. The three numbered suits are dots, bamboo, and characters, with numbers one through nine. Each numbered tile appears four times. There are also four copies of each wind and dragon tile. These ordinary tiles must match exactly: five dots can pair with five dots, but not five bamboo.
The remaining eight tiles are four different flowers and four different seasons. These are the exceptions to exact matching. Any flower can pair with another flower, and any season can pair with another season. A flower cannot pair with a season. On our tiles, the flower symbol and season symbol make those groups distinct.
What makes a tile available?
A tile is free only when its top is uncovered and at least one of its horizontal sides is open. Both conditions must be true. Having empty space above or below the tile in the same layer does not replace the left-or-right rule.
A tile on a higher layer can block more than one tile below it, especially when it sits halfway across their edges. Check the full footprint rather than just the center. Darker tiles in this game are currently blocked. An available tile is shown with a lighter face and can be selected.
- Find a light tile with no tile covering its top.
- Look for a second available tile in the same matching group.
- Select the first tile, then the second. A legal pair disappears.
- Check the newly exposed tiles and repeat until none remain.
Your first few moves
Start by looking at the highest layers and the long outer rows. Removing a tile from a tall stack can expose a new face, while shortening a row can free the tile next to it. If three copies of a tile are available, compare the space each possible pair would open before choosing.
The example on this page comes from the game’s Turtle layout. The marked tiles are both available in the starting position and belong to one matching group. Their removal is legal; that does not mean every later choice will lead to a win.
Use hints, undo, and shuffle thoughtfully
Hint outlines a currently legal pair. It does not solve the whole puzzle or promise that the pair is strategically best. Undo restores the exact previous board, making it useful when a move traps an important tile.
Shuffle keeps removed tiles cleared and rearranges the faces on the remaining positions. The game checks that a full removal sequence exists for the new arrangement. Some remaining shapes cannot be rescued by changing faces alone; when that happens, undo or restart instead. A shuffle is recorded as a move and in the shuffle count.
Choose a layout and finish a game
Turtle has a long body and several raised layers. Pyramid concentrates the highest tiles in the middle. Fortress has two raised sides above a broad base. All three use the same matching rules and the same 144-tile set.
You win by removing every tile. If no pairs remain before the board is clear, there is no penalty for taking time to inspect the board, undoing a decision, or trying again. New starting boards in this game have a verified solution, but a playable start can still become blocked through later choices.
Playing on a phone or without a connection
Tap rather than drag tiles. If the full layout feels small, choose Enlarge and scroll across the board, then use Fit board to see the whole shape again. This is particularly helpful on narrow phone screens.
Progress saves in this browser when local storage is available. Visit and load the game while online before relying on offline play. The cached game then works without a connection, but clearing site data removes both the cached files and your saved progress.
Try it on the board
Open Mahjong Solitaire and try a few moves at your own pace. You can undo, restart the same deal, or explore another mode.