What is Mahjong Solitaire?
Mahjong Solitaire is the single-player tile-matching game built from the 144 tiles of Chinese mahjong. The tiles are stacked into a picture — a turtle, a dragon, a bridge — and you take them off two at a time by pairing identical faces. Nothing is hidden once the deal is on the table: the skill is in choosing which visible pair to remove first so that you never run out of moves.
The version on this page is Mah, an open-source implementation with 55 layouts, a board generator that can guarantee a solvable deal, hints, undo, a timer with best times per board and twelve tile designs. It runs entirely in your browser, saves an unfinished game locally, and needs no download or account.
How to play
A tile is free when no tile sits on top of it and at least one of its left or right sides is open. Click a free tile, click a second one with the same face, and both leave the board. Clear every tile and the board is solved; run out of matching free pairs and the game stops with "No more matching tiles" — undo your way back or start again.
- Press Play above. The start screen lists the boards — Turtle is the classic; Start Random picks one for you.
- Set the Board Generator: Solvable is a random deal with at least one winning line, Linear a backwards fill that is always solvable but easier, Random a pure shuffle that may have no solution.
- Click Start Selected. The clock starts on your first click.
- Pair free tiles until the board is empty. The three suits (Circles, Bamboo, Characters), the four Winds and the three Dragons only match an identical tile; any Flower matches any Flower and any Season matches any Season.
- Finish and your time is compared with the best time stored for that layout.
Controls
Tap a tile to select it, tap it again to deselect. The buttons above and below the board also have keyboard shortcuts, and Esc closes any open dialog.
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse / touch |
|---|---|---|
| Select a tile / make a pair | — | click or tap |
| Hint — highlight a free pair, press again for the next | T | lightbulb button |
| Undo last pair | U | undo button |
| Pause / resume the clock | Space or P | pause button |
| New game (opens the board picker) | N | loop button |
| Settings — tiles, background, language, sound | S | cog button |
| Tiles Information — every tile with its name | I | info button |
| Help | H | help button |
| Fullscreen | — | button in the top bar |
Tips and strategy
- Work the top and the ends first. A tile on the top layer or at the end of a long row is blocking more tiles than one in the middle. Removing it frees the most new moves, so start with the peak of the Turtle and the long row ends.
- Count before you pair. There are four of every tile. If all four are free, take both pairs; if three are free, pair the two that unblock the most and keep the third for when the fourth appears.
- Watch for a tile stacked on its own twin. The lower one can only be cleared with one of the other two copies, so plan those early or the pair locks.
- Use the hint to check, not to play. Hint shows one free pair, and T again cycles through the rest. Confirm you are not stuck, then choose the order yourself — the clock keeps running either way.
- Undo is not cheating. Mah keeps the whole move list, so step back to the branch point instead of restarting a 144-tile board.
- Pick Solvable, not Random. A Random deal can be impossible from the first move and you will not know until the end; Solvable still shuffles but guarantees a route through.
A brief history
The tiles come from mahjong, the four-player Chinese game that took its modern shape in the 19th century and spread to the West in the 1920s. The computer solitaire is much younger: Brodie Lockard wrote a tile-matching game on the PLATO system in 1981, and Activision's Shanghai (1986) turned the idea, and the turtle layout, into a home-computer hit. From there the layout-plus-timer formula became a fixture of every casual game portal and phone.
About this version
What you play here is the open-source Mah project by ffalt, published under the MIT license and embedded as released — a web app, not a Flash game, so no emulator is involved. The board, the solver behind the Solvable generator and the timer run in your browser, and your saved game, best times and settings stay in this browser's local storage. Of the 55 layouts, 51 use the full 144-tile set stacked up to five layers; Pikachu (68 tiles), Scorpion (122), Invader (126) and Three Pyramids (140) are smaller. Settings offer twelve tile designs (Riichi, Uni, Black, Fruits, Picasso, Modern, Classic and more), seven backgrounds, a higher-contrast mode, sound and music switches, and English, German, Dutch, Portuguese or Russian text. There is no shuffle button, no score beyond the clock and no multiplayer; when a deal runs dry, undo or New Game are the way out. If you would rather deal cards than tiles, our Solitaire works the same way, as do Minesweeper and 2048.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Mahjong game free to play?
Yes. The game runs in your browser on this page with no download, no install and no account. It is an open-source implementation, so there is nothing to unlock or pay for — every layout, tile set and background is available from the first click.
How do I play Mahjong Solitaire?
Click a free tile, then click a second free tile with the same face and both are removed. A tile is free when nothing sits on top of it and at least one of its left or right sides is open. Clear all the tiles and the board is solved; if no matching pairs are left, the game tells you "No more matching tiles" and you can start again.
Which tiles match each other?
Suit tiles (Circles, Bamboo and Characters), Winds and Dragons only match an identical tile. The four Flower tiles are treated as one group and the four Season tiles as another, so any Flower matches any Flower and any Season matches any Season. The Tiles Information dialog (press I) shows every tile with its name.
Is every board solvable?
It depends on the Board Generator setting on the start screen. Solvable is a random deal with at least one winning line; Linear is a backwards fill that is always solvable but easier; Random is a completely random deal that may have no solution. Pick Solvable if you want a fair puzzle that is still a challenge.
How many layouts are there?
The board picker lists 55 layouts, including the classic Turtle, Fly, Dragon, Arena, Bridge and Kitty and the Chinese zodiac animals such as Monkey, Ox, Ram, Rooster, Snake, Hare, Tiger and Boar. Most use the full 144-tile set stacked up to five layers deep; a few smaller ones, like the 68-tile Pikachu board, are quicker to finish. Start Random picks a layout for you.
What do the hint and undo buttons do?
Hint (T) highlights a pair you can remove right now, and pressing it again cycles to the next available pair. Undo (U) puts your last pair back on the board, and you can step back as far as you like. Neither is limited, but the timer keeps running, so leaning on them costs you a best time.
Does the game save my progress and best times?
Yes. An unfinished game is stored in your browser and the start screen offers Continue Saved Game when you come back; Space or P pauses the clock. The Stats screen keeps a best time and games-played count per layout, with an option to clear them. Everything lives in this browser's local storage, so clearing site data or switching devices resets it.
Can I change the tiles, background or language?
Yes. Settings (S) offers twelve tile designs — including Riichi, Uni, Black, Fruits, Picasso, Modern and Classic — seven table backgrounds such as Bamboo, Blue Clouds and Wood Table, a higher-contrast option, sound and music toggles, and English, German, Dutch, Portuguese or Russian text. A fullscreen button sits in the top control bar.
