How to Play Mahjong Solitaire

Mahjong Solitaire is not Mahjong

The names cause a lot of confusion. Mahjong is a four-player game that took shape in China in the 19th century: you draw and discard tiles to build a winning hand, a bit like the card game rummy. Mahjong Solitaire only borrows the tiles. You play alone, there are no hands, and the whole game is spotting pairs.

It's also much younger. The first version was a computer game called Mah-Jongg, written by Brodie Lockard in 1981 for the PLATO system, and it became famous as Shanghai, released by Activision in 1986. Today it's often just called Mahjong, which is why GameLake's version goes by Mahjong Solitaire.

The rules

1. The tiles start stacked in a layout of several layers.
2. Pick two matching tiles that are both free. They leave the board.
3. Keep matching pairs until the board is empty. That's a win.
4. If no free pair is left, you're stuck. In the strictest versions that's the end; many, GameLake included, let you Shuffle the remaining tiles.

There's no time limit and no order you have to follow, so the only real rule to learn is what makes a tile free.

What makes a tile free?

A tile is free when both of these are true:

• Nothing lies on top of it, not even partly.
• Its left or its right side is open: there's no tile touching it on at least one of those two sides. Tiles above and below it in the picture don't count.

In the picture, the koi 3 in the middle of the top row is blocked twice: a tile lies on it and both its sides are covered. The tiles beside it, like the lily pad 2, are blocked only by their neighbours: take the lotus 1 at the end of the row and the lily pad 2 becomes free.

On GameLake's Easy level, blocked tiles are dimmed just like this, so you can see at a glance what's playable. Medium and Hard leave that to you.

Which tiles match?

Most tiles only match an exact twin: same picture, same number. The exceptions are the bonus tiles: the four flowers all match each other, and so do the four seasons.

Layouts and levels

The classic layout is the turtle: all 144 tiles in a wide shape several layers high. GameLake uses taller, narrower pyramids that fit a phone screen:

Hard uses the full set, so every tile has exactly three twins out there. Easy and Medium use part of the set, so some tiles appear only twice. Every GameLake board is built by playing a game backwards, so it can always be cleared.

Your first board

Start on Easy, where the dimming shows you what's free. Before each pair, look at all the free tiles rather than grabbing the first match you see, and prefer tiles that sit on top of a stack or at the end of a long row: taking them uncovers the most new tiles. If three or four matching tiles are free at once, pause and choose the two that open up the most.

When the board looks jammed, check the very top layer and the ends of every row again. A pair is often hiding in plain sight, and the game will tell you if there truly is none.

Shuffle, Undo, Teach me and scoring

• Shuffle mixes the remaining tiles into a new arrangement that can still be finished. Use it when no pairs are left; it costs 50 points and the three-star result.
• Undo takes back your last pair (up to 40 in a row) for 10 points.
• Teach me has Hop light up a pair and explain why it's a good one, after a quick search to check it won't leave the board stuck.
• Combos: every pair is worth 10 points, and pairs made within four seconds of each other multiply that, up to five times.

Ready to clear boards faster and without shuffling? Read Mahjong Solitaire strategy. Like matching puzzles? Water Sort tips and how to win Minesweeper are good next stops.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Mahjong SolitaireMahjong Solitaire Strategy: How to Clear the Board
• Water SortWater Sort Puzzle Tips: How to Solve Any Level
• MinesweeperHow to Win Minesweeper: Patterns, Flags and Chording

All game guides →