How to play Mahjong Solitaire
A complete guide to the tile-matching game: which tiles you may take, what matches what, the layouts and levels on Lynxy, and the strategy that gets a hard board cleared.
In one paragraph. The tiles are stacked into a shape. Take them off in pairs: tap two free tiles showing the same picture and both disappear. A tile is free when nothing lies on top of it and it can slide out to the left or to the right - no tile beside it on at least one side. Clear every tile to win. A cleared board is worth 1 point on Easy, 2 on Medium and 3 on Hard.
The rules
- The board. Up to 144 tiles are piled into a layout - a pyramid, a turtle, a fortress - several layers high, some tiles half a tile off their neighbours.
- Free tiles. You may only take a tile that is free: nothing on top of it, not even partly, and no neighbour on its left or no neighbour on its right on the same layer. A tile boxed in on both sides stays until one side opens.
- Pairs. Tap a free tile, then a second free tile with the same picture. The pair is taken off the board. Tap a tile that does not match and it becomes your new choice; tap the chosen tile again to let it go.
- Winning. Take off every tile. If no two free tiles match any more, you are stuck: undo, or shuffle the tiles left.
The tiles
The game uses the classic Chinese mahjong set - 42 different faces, all drawn for this game:
| Tiles | What they look like | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Dots 1–9 | One to nine coloured circles | The same number of dots |
| Bamboo 1–9 | Bamboo sticks; the one is a bird on a stalk | The same number of bamboo |
| Characters 1–9 | A Chinese numeral over the red sign 萬; the number is also in the corner | The same character |
| Winds | 東 East, 南 South, 西 West, 北 North, with the letter in the corner | The same wind |
| Dragons | Red 中, green 發 and the white dragon, a blue frame | The same dragon |
| Flowers | Plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and lotus, red number in the corner | The same flower |
| Seasons | Spring, summer, autumn and winter, blue number in the corner | The same season |
Numbers from 1 to 9 look alike across suits at a glance, so check the suit as well as the count: the three of dots and the three of bamboo do not match.
Playing this game
On a phone or tablet
- Tap a free tile - it lifts and turns gold - then tap its twin.
- A tile that cannot be taken yet gives a small shake when tapped.
- Every layout is at most eight tiles across, so the whole board fits a phone held upright.
- Pause covers the board and stops the clock.
On a computer
- Click the tiles.
- Keyboard: Tab moves between the free tiles only, Enter or Space picks one, Ctrl + Z undoes the last pair, Esc closes a dialog.
The counters
Above the board you see the name of the layout, the tiles still on the board, the number of matches you could make right now - pairs of free tiles that match - and the time. The header keeps your total points, wins and games played.
Twelve layouts
Each new game picks one of twelve layouts at random, never the same one twice in a row: Pyramid, Turtle (the best-known classic shape), Fortress, Bridge, Diamond, Cross, Flower, Hourglass, Stairs, Twin Towers, Brick Wall and Heart. Every layout comes in three sizes, one for each level, and the tiles are dealt afresh every time.
Every deal can be solved
In many mahjong games a random deal can be impossible from the start - a tile buried under its own twin, say. Not here. The board is dealt backwards: the game takes the empty layout apart two free places at a time, exactly as a player would, and gives each pair of places matching tiles. Played forwards, that order is a solution, so there is always at least one way to clear the board. The same method is used when you shuffle.
Three levels
| Level | Tiles | Each picture | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 64–72 | 2 tiles | 1 |
| Medium | 94–112 | 2 or 4 tiles | 2 |
| Hard | 130–144 | 4 tiles | 3 |
The stacks grow with the level too: up to four layers on Easy, six on Medium and seven on Hard. Easy also greys out the tiles that cannot be taken yet, so you only have to look at the free ones.
Why Easy cannot go wrong: when every picture appears on exactly two tiles, any pair you can take is the pair - taking tiles off only ever frees others, so no move can spoil the board. Why Hard can: with four of each picture you often see three free copies and must decide which two to take. The deal places the two pairs of each picture far apart, so the copy lying on top is often the partner of one buried deep below, and taking the obvious pair can leave its twin trapped.
Undo and shuffle
- Undo puts the last pair back. It is free and unlimited, on every level - go back as far as you like.
- Shuffle gives the tiles still on the board new places, dealt again so that they can all be cleared. It is offered automatically when no match is left, and you can use it at any time. Shuffles are unlimited, but they are worth using sparingly: a fresh deal can undo a careful plan as easily as it rescues a stuck one.
Strategy: how to clear a hard board
1. Free the long rows from their ends
Only the ends of a row are free. The longer the row, the more tiles are locked inside it, so work on the long rows early and leave short rows and single tiles for later.
2. Dig out the tall stacks
A tile under a stack of three cannot move until all three are gone. Prefer pairs that take a tile off a tall pile, and do not wait until the end to open the towers - that is where boards get stuck.
3. When three are free, think before you take two
With four copies of a picture, taking the wrong two can strand the last pair under each other. Before matching, look where the other copies are. If one lies under something that only this picture can clear, leave a copy for it. If all four are free, take them all - two pairs, no risk.
4. Take the pair that opens the most
When several matches are available, choose the one that frees the most new tiles: a tile that covers two others, or the end of a row whose neighbour you need.
5. Do not rush the easy matches
A pair that is free and blocks nothing can wait. Keeping it in reserve means you still have a move later, when the board is tight.
6. Use undo to look ahead
Undo is free. If you are unsure which of two pairs to take, try one, see what it opens, and undo if it was the wrong choice.
A short history
Mahjong itself is a four-player game of skill and chance that took shape in China in the nineteenth century. The solitaire game only borrows its tiles. It was created by Brodie Lockard, who wrote it for the PLATO computer system in 1981, and it reached a wide audience on home computers in the late 1980s with the famous Turtle layout. It has been one of the best-loved computer puzzles ever since, and today it is played by millions on phones and in browsers.
Frequently asked questions
Is this mahjong game free?
Yes. Every layout and level is free, there is no account and nothing to buy. The game is paid for by the advertising described in our Privacy Policy.
Is every game solvable?
Yes. Every board is dealt backwards from a cleared one, so there is always a way to take off every tile. You can still get stuck by choosing the wrong pair - on Medium and Hard - and then undo or shuffle.
What is a free tile?
A tile with nothing on top of it, even partly, and with no tile directly beside it on its left or on its right. On Easy, tiles that are not free are greyed out.
Do the flower and season tiles match each other?
No. Some mahjong games let any flower match any other flower; here every tile, flowers and seasons included, matches only a tile with exactly the same picture.
How many points can I earn?
One point for each Easy board you clear, two for Medium and three for Hard, however long it took and whatever help you used. The total is a personal counter kept in your browser, not a ranking, and it has no monetary value.
Is my progress saved?
Yes. The board, the tiles you have taken, your undo history, the shuffles used, the timer, your points and your best time per level live in your browser's local storage. Close the tab and the board is waiting when you come back. Clearing your browser data or playing in private mode erases it.
Can I play offline?
Once the page has loaded, the game needs no connection - everything runs in your browser. Only the advertisement and the measurement need the network.