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How to play Mahjong

Goal

Clear every tile from the table by taking them off in matching pairs. This is Mahjong solitaire — a one-player tile-matching puzzle, not the four-player card-style game.

Modes

• 🧩 Relaxed — no clock pressure. Your time, hints and shuffles are shown when you finish.
• ⏱ Timer — clear the table before time runs out. The time depends on the layout: Normal is about 4 seconds per pair and Tight about 2.5 seconds. Minutes (Normal / Tight): Quick 2 / 2 · Turtle 5 / 3 · Pyramid 4 / 3 · Fortress 3 / 2 · Butterfly 4 / 3 · Bridge 4 / 3.

How to play

• A tile is free when nothing lies on top of it (not even partly) and its left or right side is open. Free tiles look a little brighter.
• Tap a free tile, then tap another free tile with the same picture — both disappear. Tap a blocked tile and it gives a little shake.
• Flowers match any other flower, and seasons match any other season.
• Above the tiles you can see how many pairs are left and how many moves are available right now.
• ↶ Undo takes back as many moves as you like. 💡 Hint lights up a pair (it prefers one that still lets you clear the table). 🔀 Shuffle mixes the remaining tiles into a new arrangement that can still be cleared.
• If no moves are left, shuffle or undo. With 3 shuffles and none left, you can undo or end the game.
• Keyboard: U or Backspace undo, H hint, S shuffle, Esc to drop your selection.

The tiles

• Dots, Bamboo and Characters (一 to 九 above 萬), numbered 1 to 9 — four of each.
• Winds 東 East, 南 South, 西 West, 北 North and Dragons 中 red, 發 green and the white dragon (a blue frame) — four of each.
• Four Flowers (plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, lotus) and four Seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter) — one of each.

Layouts

• Quick (56 tiles) — a small square stack — great on a phone.
• Turtle (144 tiles) — the classic 144-tile pyramid.
• Pyramid (116 tiles) — four even steps up to a ridge.
• Fortress (90 tiles) — double walls, corner towers and a keep.
• Butterfly (112 tiles) — two wide wings around a tall body.
• Bridge (98 tiles) — a long span with two towers.

Every deal can be cleared — it's built backwards from a finished game. On a tall, narrow screen a wide layout turns sideways so the tiles can be bigger; then the "open sides" are the top and bottom of each tile, but free tiles are always the brighter ones.

Tips

• Open up long rows from the ends, and take tiles off the top of tall stacks early — they hold the most tiles down.
• If all four tiles of a kind are free, take both pairs: that can never hurt.
• With three of a kind free, think about which two to take: the one you leave behind might be blocking something.
• Playing on a phone? Quick has the biggest tiles.

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