Mahjong Solitaire
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About This Game
Play Mahjong Solitaire free online. Match free pairs of identical tiles to clear the board. Classic turtle layout, hints, and shuffle. No sign-up.
How to play Mahjong Solitaire
Objective: Remove all 80 tiles from the three-layer pyramid by matching them into identical pairs until the board is empty.
The board holds 80 tiles stacked in a three-layer pyramid: a 48-tile base of 8 columns by 6 rows, a 24-tile middle layer inset by one, and an 8-tile top layer inset by two. Each of the 18 tile faces appears in matched sets. You clear the board by tapping two tiles that show the same face; when a pair matches, both vanish. The timer starts the moment you tap your first tile and stops when the last pair is gone.
You can only select a tile that is free. A tile is free when nothing is stacked on top of it and either its left or its right neighbor slot on the same layer is empty. Free tiles render bright white; blocked tiles look grey and dimmed and ignore your taps. Your first tap glows cyan. Tap its match to remove the pair, tap the same tile again to deselect, or tap a different free tile to move your selection there.
Only faces need to match, so any two tiles with the same symbol pair off. As edge tiles disappear, their neighbors open up, so the order you clear pairs in decides what you can reach next. There are no lives or penalties. Three buttons sit below: Hint outlines one matchable free pair in green, Shuffle reassigns faces on remaining tiles while keeping the board solvable, and New Game deals a fresh pyramid. Your fastest solve is saved as Best.
Tips and strategy
Peel the top first
The 8 top-layer tiles cover pieces directly beneath them. Clearing the peak early frees the middle layer and opens more matches. Leaving top tiles for last strands the pieces they cover and shrinks your options.
Open both board edges
A tile is free when its left OR right side is clear, so tiles at the far ends of each row unlock the most neighbors when removed. Working inward from both edges keeps a wider set of tiles selectable at once.
Shuffle over guessing
When every free tile shows a different symbol, no legal pair exists on screen. Press Shuffle to reassign faces while the board stays solvable, rather than hoping a match appears among covered tiles you cannot reach yet.
Delay your first tap
The timer does not start until you tap a tile, so study the pyramid first. Plan which top tiles to peel and which edges to open, then play a clean opening to protect your Best time.
The history of Mahjong Solitaire
Mahjong began as a four-player tile game in China in the second half of the 1800s and spread worldwide in the 1920s. The single-player matching game played here is a later, separate invention popularized on computers by Brodie Lockard, whose version Shanghai was published by Activision in 1986 and set the template for the matching games that followed. The pyramid layout and the open-side rule come from that computer tradition, not the original game.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get stuck with no moves left?
Every board is generated in a guaranteed-solvable order, so a full solution always exists. You can still reach a spot where the visible free tiles share no face. When that happens, press Shuffle to reassign faces on the remaining tiles while keeping the board solvable.
How does scoring work in this Mahjong?
There is no points system. The game tracks only your completion time, counting up once you tap your first tile. Finish the board and that time is compared against your Best, and a faster run replaces the record shown in green at the top.
What makes a tile selectable?
A tile is free if nothing sits on top of it and at least one side slot, left or right on the same layer, is open. Free tiles appear bright white and respond to taps. Blocked tiles show grey and dimmed until their neighbors clear.
Is my Best time saved?
Your fastest completion is stored locally in your own browser, so it stays on your device and is not sent anywhere. Clearing your browser data or playing in a different browser resets it. Whenever you finish faster than the saved value, the Best time updates automatically.