Mahjong Online FAQ

Mahjong solitaire is a single-player puzzle played with the 144 tiles of a mahjong set. The tiles are stacked face-up in a fixed shape — most often the Turtle. You remove tiles two at a time by matching identical free tiles, and you win when the whole layout is cleared. It is also sold as Mahjong, Mahjong Tiles, or Shanghai.

Yes. mahjonggame.app is completely free and runs entirely in your browser. There is nothing to buy, download, or install, and there are no interruptive video ads, premium tiers, or paywalls. Open the page and a board is already dealt.

Four-player mahjong is a game of draw-and-discard where players build a winning hand, similar in spirit to rummy. Mahjong solitaire uses the same tiles but is a single-player matching puzzle with no opponents, no scoring hands, and no betting. This site is the solitaire version.

The four-player tile game took shape in China in the 19th century and spread worldwide in the 1920s. The single-player solitaire form is much newer: the widely played computer version, Shanghai, was written by Brodie Lockard and released by Activision in 1986, and the Turtle layout became its signature shape.

A tile is free — and therefore selectable — when no tile covers any part of it from a higher layer, and at least one of its left or right long edges has no tile beside it on the same layer. A tile boxed in on both sides, or with anything resting on top, is locked until those tiles are removed.

Two free tiles match when they show the same face: the same number and suit (for Circles, Bamboo, and Characters), the same Wind, or the same Dragon. The four Flower tiles all match one another, and the four Season tiles all match one another, so those eight bonus tiles do not need an exact twin.

The 144 tiles are: Circles, Bamboo, and Characters numbered 1–9 with four copies each (108); four copies each of the East, South, West, and North Winds (16); four copies each of the Red, Green, and White Dragons (12); and one each of four Flowers and four Seasons (8).

The classic Turtle (also called the Dragon): an eight-row base slab with a one-tile tail on the left and a two-tile neck on the right, topped by a 6×6 block, a 4×4 block, a 2×2 block, and a single head tile — five layers at the centre.

Tap or click a free tile to select it, tap again to deselect, or tap a matching free tile to remove the pair. On the keyboard, U undoes, H shows a hint, S shuffles, N deals a new board, M toggles sound, and Esc clears your selection.

Not directly, but Undo puts the last removed pair back exactly where it was, along with your score and hint and shuffle counts. Undo is unlimited, so you can walk all the way back to the opening position.

On this site, yes — every board is dealt from a known solution, so a complete path always exists. That does not make it easy: removing the wrong pair can still strand tiles. If you reach a dead end, Undo steps back through your matches and Shuffle rearranges the remaining tiles into a fresh solvable position.

Shuffle takes every tile still on the board and re-deals it into the same slots, arranged so the position can still be solved from there. It is always available and there is no cap on how many times you can use it, though each shuffle costs a few points.

Each matched pair is worth 100 points, with a small bonus for the pair that clears the board. Hints cost 25 points and shuffles cost 60, and the score never drops below zero. Time and match count are tracked separately so you can chase a fast clear.

Start with the head tile and the ends of the top rows, since those open the most tiles per match. Then look at the four long base rows and try to free their end tiles early, before the middle of the board locks them in.

The current streak counts consecutive cleared boards. Dealing a new board before clearing the current one resets the current streak to zero. Your longest streak is kept separately as a personal best.

Your best time, best score, games played, win rate, and current and longest win streak are saved locally in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server and there is no account. Because the save lives on the device, a different phone, a new browser profile, or cleared site data looks like a fresh start. A board in progress is not saved if you close the tab.

Yes. The layout is built for touch: the full Turtle and its toolbar fit on one portrait screen, tiles are sized for a thumb, and dealing a new board is instant with no page reload.

Every action has a short synthesized sound effect — selecting a tile, matching, undoing, shuffling, and a fanfare on a clear. Press M or use the toolbar toggle to mute; the setting is saved on your device and restored next visit.

Any current browser with JavaScript: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari on desktop, plus their mobile versions. If tiles do not respond, update the browser, allow scripts for this site, and reload.

Open Stats from the toolbar and use Reset progress, then confirm with the second tap. That clears best time, best score, games played, and streaks on this browser. It cannot be undone.