Mahjong Solitaire
A single-player tile puzzle. Clear the classic turtle by removing matching
pairs of free tiles. This is not four-player Hong Kong Mahjong: there is no
draw, no discard, and no meld.
Goal
Remove all 144 tiles.
The tiles
The deal is one full mahjong set:
•
Characters, circles, and bamboo, 1 through 9, four of each.
•
Winds: East, South, West, North, four of each.
•
Dragons: Red, Green, White, four of each.
•
Flowers 1–4, one of each. Seasons 1–4, one of each.
Two tiles match when they are the same suit and the same rank. Any flower
matches any other flower, and any season matches any other season. A flower
does not match a season, and a character does not match a circle of the same
number.
The turtle
The tiles are stacked in the classic turtle. A tile is free only when
both of these are true:
•
nothing sits on top of it (no higher tile overlaps its footprint), and
•
at least one of its long sides, left or right, is open.
A tile with neighbors on both long sides is blocked, even when nothing covers
it. Free tiles are drawn brighter. Blocked tiles are darker, and the face
stays solid.
How to play
1.
Press a free tile. It highlights so the choice is visible. Press that
same tile again to clear the choice, or press a second free tile that
matches it. Both leave the board, which can uncover tiles beneath them
or open a side that was blocked.
2.
Hint highlights one free matching pair. The highlight is a cyan border.
It clears when you remove a pair or shuffle.
3.
Shuffle is available only when no free pair remains and you still have
a shuffle left. It rearranges the tiles that are still on the board. You
start with three shuffles.
4.
Undo takes back the last removal, hint, or shuffle.
Winning and losing
Clear the board and you win.
If tiles remain, no free pair matches, and no shuffle is left, the deal is
stuck and you lose. A stuck board with a shuffle still available is not over
yet — shuffle, or undo and try a different pair.
Tips
•
The two tiles sticking out of the left and right ends start free. The single
tile on the very top starts free too.
•
Matching the top tile is what opens the stack under it.
•
Flowers and seasons are wild within their own group, so they are useful
when the suited tiles are buried.
•
Save a shuffle for a board that is actually stuck. A shuffle spends one of
three, and a clear without using one is a cleaner finish.