Play Mahjong Solitaire — 144 Tiles, Match Free Pairs, Clear the Layout

Mahjong Solitaire is a single-player tile-matching puzzle that uses the 144 tiles from a traditional Chinese Mahjong set. Match pairs of identical free tiles to remove them. Clear every tile to win. The game is also called Shanghai Solitaire after the 1986 Activision port that introduced it to a wide computer audience. Free in your browser, 650+ layouts, no sign-up. Works offline once the page has loaded.

How Do You Play Mahjong Solitaire?

Goal: remove all 144 tiles by matching identical free pairs.

Setup

• 144 tiles from the standard Chinese Mahjong set.
• Stacked layout — tiles arranged in 3D layers, typically the Turtle shape.
• Tile categories: Dots, Bamboos, Characters, Winds, Dragons, Seasons, Flowers.
• All tiles visible from the start — no hidden information.

Rules

• Free tile. A tile is free when no tile sits on top of it AND at least one side (left or right) is open.
• Matching. Click two identical free tiles to remove them.
• Wildcards. Any Season matches any other Season. Any Flower matches any other Flower.
  = = =
• No replacement. Removed tiles stay removed.
• No time limit. Take your time.

Tile categories

Six Strategies That Actually Work

1. Clear top tiles and edges first

• Top-layer tiles should go first when you can. Removing them frees the tiles underneath.
• Clear edge tiles to open more sides on adjacent tiles.
• Prefer tiles that block many others over tiles that block none.

2. Avoid creating locked pairs

• Don't match a pair if doing so exposes the only other identical pair underneath.
• That's how four copies of a tile end up locked — two visible up top, two trapped below with no way to reach them.
• Example: removing two 5-Bamboos that expose two more 5-Bamboos beneath.
• Always check what your match will reveal before clicking.

3. Save Seasons and Flowers

• Seasons and Flowers are wild within their group. Any Season pairs with any Season; any Flower with any Flower.
• They never lock — there are only four of each, and any two free tiles in the group match.
• Save them for moments when you need to clear a blocker.

4. Track tile counts

• Each regular tile has exactly four copies. After matching one pair, two remain.
• Note where the remaining copies sit before committing to a match.
• If both remaining copies are deep in the same stack, you may not be able to reach them.

5. Work from outside to inside

• Outer tiles have more free sides, so they unlock faster.
• Removing the outer ring exposes the inner cluster.
• This pattern reduces the chance of trapping tiles in unreachable positions.

6. Use Hint sparingly

• Hint shows a legal pair when you're stuck. Use it after you've tried to find one yourself.
• Pattern recognition is the main skill in Mahjong Solitaire. Hints short-circuit the practice.

How Scoring Works

This Mahjong uses a dynamic scoring system that rewards strategic tile selection and consistent play.

Base points

Each match earns points based on two factors: the tile type value and the number of tiles remaining on the board:

Base Points = Tile Value × Tiles Remaining

Early matches (when more tiles remain) score more, rewarding aggressive play from the start.

Tile values

• Characters: 2 points per tile remaining
• Dots: 4 points per tile remaining
• Bamboos: 6 points per tile remaining
• Winds: 8 points per tile remaining
• Dragons: 10 points per tile remaining
• Flowers: 12 points per tile remaining
• Seasons: 14 points per tile remaining (highest)

Chain multiplier

Match tiles of the same suit consecutively to build a chain multiplier:

• 1st match. ×1 (base points).
• 2nd consecutive same-suit match. ×1.5.
• 3rd consecutive. ×2.
• 4th consecutive. ×2.5.
• The multiplier grows by ×0.5 for each additional consecutive same-suit match.

The chain resets when you match a different suit. Look for opportunities to chain several pairs of the same suit for big bonuses.

Scoring tips

• Match high-value tiles (Seasons, Flowers, Dragons) early while many tiles still remain.
• A Season match at the start (144 tiles) earns 14 × 144 = 2,016 base points.
• Build chains by matching the same suit consecutively for the multiplier.
• Balance scoring against board management — don't get stuck chasing points.

Mahjong Solitaire vs Traditional Mahjong

The two share tile art and almost nothing else.

Aspect	Mahjong Solitaire	Traditional Mahjong
Players	1	4
Goal	Match free pairs to clear the board	Build winning hands of melds
Created	1981 (digital)	19th-century China
Skill type	Spatial puzzle, pattern recognition	Strategy, memory, social play

Mahjong Solitaire was designed in 1981 by Brodie Lockard on the PLATO computer system at the University of Illinois, where he called it Mah-Jongg. Activision licensed and renamed it Shanghai for personal computers in 1986, which is the version most older players remember.

Is Every Mahjong Layout Winnable?

No. Random shuffles can produce unwinnable boards — a position where every remaining match locks the next one. Estimates from solver experiments put solvable random shuffles at roughly 25–40% on the standard Turtle layout, depending on tile placement. Many digital versions (including this one) bias the shuffle toward solvable boards so most games can be won with careful play.

Common Layouts

Turtle (Classic)

The most iconic layout, resembling a turtle shell with a tall center and sloping edges.

Pyramid

Symmetrical pyramid with tiles stacked in decreasing layers.

Four Bridges

Multiple separated sections connected by bridges of tiles.

Cat, Crab, Dragon, and others

Animal and symbolic shapes for variety. Our version includes 650+ layouts in total.

A Short History

Mahjong Solitaire is a digital invention. Brodie Lockard developed it on the PLATO computer system at the University of Illinois in 1981. He drew on the tile art of traditional Mahjong but replaced the four-player strategy game with a single-player matching puzzle. PLATO users played his version in the early 1980s under the name Mah-Jongg.

The version that broke through to the mainstream came in 1986, when Activision licensed Lockard's design and ported it to home computers as Shanghai. The game shipped on the Macintosh, MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, NES, and several other platforms over the next decade. Microsoft included a version called Mahjong Titans in Windows 7 (2009), which kept the game in front of mainstream Windows users for another decade.

About This Version

This Mahjong runs in your browser — free, no download, no sign-up. 650+ layouts. Six tile-art themes (default composite plus Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and Medieval cultural sets). Daily challenges, statistics, and unlimited undo. Install as an app on your phone or computer; once installed it works offline.

References & Sources

1. Lockard, Brodie. Mah-Jongg (1981). Original PLATO implementation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The earliest single-player tile-matching version.
2. Activision. Shanghai (1986). The commercial release that introduced the Lockard ruleset to home computers across multiple platforms.
3. Microsoft. Mahjong Titans (Windows 7, 2009) and the Mahjong portion of Microsoft Solitaire Collection. Microsoft Solitaire.
4. Solvability ranges (~25–40% for random Turtle shuffles) reflect aggregated solver-experiment estimates. No single peer-reviewed solvability paper covers Mahjong Solitaire to the same depth as Yan et al. (2005) covers Klondike.

Other Puzzles to Try

• Sudoku — 9×9 logic puzzle, four difficulty levels, daily challenge
• 2048 — slide and merge tiles to reach 2048
• Klondike Solitaire — the classic Microsoft Solitaire
• FreeCell — every card visible, almost every deal winnable