Mahjong Solitaire - Classic Tile Matching Puzzle Game

Mahjong Solitaire Rules

A standard board uses 144 tiles: three suits (characters, bamboos and circles) with four copies of each value, seven honor tiles with four copies each, and one set each of flowers and seasons. A tile can be removed only when it is free — nothing sits on top of it, and it is not blocked on both its left and right sides. Free tiles are removed in pairs of identical faces; flowers pair with any flower and seasons with any season. The board is solved when every tile is gone.

How to Play

1. Click on a free tile to select it (free tiles have no tiles on top and at least one side unblocked)
2. Click on a matching free tile to remove both from the board
3. Continue matching pairs until all tiles are cleared or no moves remain
4. Use Hint to find available matches, Undo to reverse mistakes, or Shuffle when stuck

Mahjong Titans and Other Layouts

Mahjong Titans was the version bundled with Windows Vista and Windows 7, and its six layouts became the classic set: Turtle (the 144-tile standard), Dragon, Cat, Fortress, Spider and Pyramid. Our version keeps the turtle as the default board and adds dozens of other shapes — from small 60-tile starters to dense 144-tile fortresses — so each layout plays differently while the rules stay the same.

Mahjong Solitaire vs Mahjong Connect

The two games share a tile set but nothing else. Mahjong Solitaire stacks tiles into a layered shape and you dig down by removing free tiles — the challenge is reading the layout. Mahjong Connect lays everything flat and visible, and pairs are removed only when a path with at most two turns can travel between them — the challenge is spatial scanning. If you prefer the flat, path-based version, play Mahjong Connect.

Mahjong Solitaire Strategy

Remove tiles from the top layers first — every tile you uncover now is a tile you can pair later. Before removing a pair, check whether it frees a tile on the layer below. Delay symmetric choices: when two identical moves are available, taking the one that opens a new column beats taking either blindly. If the board deadlocks, the auto-shuffle will rebuild it with a guaranteed playable pair — you are never out of the game.

Game Features

• Classic turtle layout with 144 tiles
• Multiple board layouts to choose from
• Hint system to help find matches
• Undo feature to reverse mistakes
• Shuffle option when stuck
• Timer to track your solving speed

Pro Tips for Mahjong Solitaire

• Focus on removing tiles from the top layers first
• Look for tiles that block multiple other tiles
• Plan ahead - sometimes the obvious match isn't the best choice
• Use the hint feature sparingly to improve your skills
• Try to keep the board balanced - don't clear one side completely

History of Mahjong Solitaire (Mahjong Titans)

Mahjong Titans became widely known as a built-in game in Windows Vista and Windows 7. It's a variation of Mahjong Solitaire, which was originally created in 1981 by Brodie Lockard. The game uses traditional Chinese mahjong tiles but has completely different rules from the multiplayer mahjong game. The 'Titans' name refers to the grand, monumental challenge of clearing the towering tile structure.