Mahjong Solitaire

This is Mahjong Solitaire in its classic form. There are 144 tiles stacked in the Turtle shape, and your job is to clear them all by taking away matching pairs. It is free, it runs in your browser, and there is nothing to install or sign up for.

If you played Mahjong Titans on an old Windows PC, or Shanghai on a Mac or a games console, this is the same game.

How to play

1. Find a free tile. A tile is free when nothing sits on top of it and its left or right side is open. Free tiles are bright. Blocked tiles are shaded.
2. Click its twin. Pick two free tiles with the same picture and both disappear.
3. Keep going. Each pair you take away can free the tiles it was covering or pinning.
4. Clear the board. Remove all 72 pairs and you win.

There are two exceptions to the “same picture” rule. Any flower matches any other flower, and any season matches any other season. The how to play guide goes through it with pictures.

What you get here

• Six layouts, from the relaxed Garden to the five-level Fortress.
• Every deal can be won. Boards are built backwards from an empty table, so a solution always exists.
• 5 hints, 3 shuffles and unlimited undo in every game. Hints pick the pair that frees the most tiles.
• A daily deal. Everyone gets the same board each day, so you can compare times.
• Your game is saved on this device. Close the tab and pick up where you left off.
• Six table designs, relaxing music and sound effects, all saved between visits.

About the Turtle

The Turtle is the layout most people picture when they think of Mahjong Solitaire. It has 144 tiles in five layers: a wide base of 87 tiles, then smaller blocks of 36, 16 and 4, and one tile on the very top. Three tiles stick out as a head and tail on the left and right.

About 35 tiles are free when you start. That is enough to give you choices without making it easy. The single tile on top and the three tail tiles are free from the start, and the tail tiles stay free for most of the game, so there is no rush to take them.

A few tips to start

• Take tiles from the top first. High tiles block the most and are rarely a trap.
• Look before you match. If you can see three or four copies of a tile, choose the pair that frees more tiles.
• Don’t strand a pair. If two copies are buried under the same stack, matching the other two can leave them with no partner.

The strategy guide goes into more detail.