How to play Mahjong Solitaire

Mahjong Solitaire is a matching game for one player, played with the 144 tiles of a mahjong set. The tiles are stacked in a shape, called a layout, and you clear it by taking away matching pairs, one pair at a time.

The goal

Remove every tile from the board. Each move takes away two matching tiles, so a full layout of 144 tiles takes 72 moves. You can only take tiles that are free, which is what makes it a puzzle: the order you take pairs in decides whether the board can still be cleared.

The tiles

A set has 42 kinds of tile. Most come four times; the winds, flowers and seasons come twice. Each tile matches only its identical twin: a red dragon with a red dragon, the 3 of bamboo with the 3 of bamboo, the first flower with the first flower. 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

Which tiles are free

A tile is free, and can be taken, when both of these are true:

• Nothing lies on top of it. Even a tile that covers it only partly, from the layer above, blocks it.
• Its left side or its right side is open. A tile with neighbours on both its left and right is stuck until one of them goes. Tiles above or below it on the screen don't matter; only left and right do.

On a fresh board, that usually means the tiles at the ends of each row and the tile at the very top of the pile. Each pair you take opens up others.

Playing on Mahjong Haus

1. Choose your game. Open the settings (the gear in the top bar) and choose Mahjong Solitaire, a layout, your tiles and a background, then press Start game.
2. Take a pair. Tap one free tile, then its twin. Both disappear. Tap a selected tile again to let it go.
3. Use the tools under the board. Undo and redo take moves back and forward. A hint shows you a pair you can take. Shuffle rearranges the tiles still on the board when you're stuck. Pause stops the clock.
4. Watch a demo. The eye button lets the computer play the same deal from the start, so you can see one way through it. A game the computer has played isn't ranked.

With Guaranteed winnable path turned on in the settings (the default), every deal can be cleared: the tiles are dealt so that at least one order of moves takes them all. You can still get stuck by taking pairs in the wrong order. Turn it off for random deals, dealt like a real set, where some boards can't be cleared at all.

Scoring and leaderboards

Every game is timed from your first move, and scored as you play:

• Tile points: each tile is worth its face value: 10 for the suits, 20 for the dragons and the peacock, and 40 for the winds, flowers and seasons.
• Pace bonus: a five-minute bonus clock starts with the game. Every 20 tiles you take adds the seconds left on it.
• Speed bonus: take 20 tiles inside one 30-second window to earn 100 points for every second still left in it.
• Finish bonuses: clear the board before the bonus clock runs out and you also earn:
  • 30 points for every second left on it;
  • a quick-finish bonus that starts at 5,000 and drops in steps after 2 minutes 40 seconds;
  • a no-shuffle bonus of 3,000, less 1,000 for each shuffle and 500 for each hint.
  Take longer than five minutes and you keep your tile points and the bonuses earned along the way, but not these.

Each layout has its own leaderboard. Sign in to keep your wins, track your statistics and see where you rank. If you play as a guest and win, sign in on the same device within a day to keep that game.

Tips and strategy

• Look before you tap. When several pairs are free, choose the one that frees the most tiles, not the first one you see.
• Work on the tall stacks and long rows early. Tiles buried under high piles or in the middle of long rows take the longest to reach, so open them up while you still have choices.
• Watch the third and fourth of a kind. When three tiles of a kind are free, take the pair that leaves the third able to reach the fourth. If two tiles of a kind are buried under each other, take the pair on top first.
• Count what's blocked. If both remaining tiles of a kind lie under the same stack, that stack needs clearing before anything else.
• Use undo to explore. Undo costs no points (though the clock keeps running), so try a line of moves and take it back if it leads nowhere.
• Save hints and shuffles for real dead ends. Both cost bonus points.

Questions

Can every game be won?

With Guaranteed winnable path on, yes: every deal has a way through, though you can still take a wrong turn. Random deals can't always be cleared.

What if no pairs are free?

Undo some moves and try another order, or shuffle the tiles left on the board.

Do I need an account?

No. You can play as a guest. An account keeps your scores, your statistics and your place on the leaderboards.

Is it free?

Yes. Mahjong Haus runs in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to download.