How to play

Mahjong Haus has four tile-matching games, all played with the tiles of a mahjong set. In each one you clear the board by taking away identical tiles in pairs; what changes is how the tiles are laid out and which ones you can take.

• Mahjong Solitaire

  The classic. Tiles are stacked in a shape, and you take pairs of free tiles: nothing on top, and an open side to the left or right. Many layouts, from the Turtle to the Butterfly.

• Mahjong 3D

  Mahjong Solitaire built from stone blocks you can tilt and turn, with your choice of stone and face art. Same rules, same layouts, same leaderboards.

• Mahjong Cube

  The tiles form a solid cube you turn in your hands. A tile can be taken when two of its sides that meet at an edge are open.

• Connect (Shisen-Sho)

  The tiles lie flat, and a pair can be taken when a line with at most two turns joins it through empty space. Turn on gravity for a board that keeps changing.

The tiles

Every game uses the tiles of the same 144-tile set: three suits (bamboo, dots and characters), the four winds, three dragons, the peacock, four flowers and four seasons. Smaller boards use part of the set, and the large cube uses it more than once. Each tile matches only its identical twin; two different flowers or two different seasons don't make a pair.

• Bamboo, 2 to 9 10 points a tile
• Dots, 1 to 9 10 points a tile
• Characters, 1 to 9 10 points a tile
• Dragons and the peacock 20 points a tile
• Winds 40 points a tile
• Flowers 40 points a tile
• Seasons 40 points a tile

In every game

• Settings come first. The gear in the top bar opens the settings: the game, the layout or board, your tiles, a background, and whether every deal is guaranteed to have a way through.
• Tap two tiles to take a pair. Tap a selected tile again to let it go.
• Help when you're stuck. Undo and redo take moves back and forward. A hint shows a pair you can take, and shuffle rearranges the tiles left on the board. Hints and shuffles cost bonus points.
• Learn from the computer. The demo plays the same deal from the start, so you can see one way through it.
• Scores and leaderboards. Every game is timed and scored, with bonuses for playing fast and, when you finish inside five minutes, for not shuffling. Sign in to keep your wins and climb the leaderboards. See how scoring works.

Which game should I start with?

If you're new to mahjong games, start with Mahjong Solitaire on the Turtle, the layout most people know. Try Connect next: its rule is different but quick to learn, and the small board takes only a few minutes. Mahjong 3D and Mahjong Cube are best once the matching feels natural.