Guide
How to Play Mahjong Solitaire
Mahjong solitaire is a game of order. Read the Turtle, find the tiles that are free, and match identical pairs to lift them off until all 144 tiles are gone.
Play MahjongThe objective
Clear all 144 tiles from the Turtle
Mahjong solitaire is played with the 144 tiles of a mahjong set, stacked face-up in a fixed shape. On this site that shape is the Turtle. You remove the tiles two at a time by matching identical free tiles, and you win the moment the last pair leaves the board — 72 pairs in all.
There is no opponent and no timer forcing your hand. The challenge is choosing which pair to take next so the tiles you need later do not get buried or boxed in.
The game is free, runs in the browser, and needs no account. Open the board when you want to play; use this guide for the rules and the habits that clear more boards.
Free tiles
What makes a tile playable
A tile is free — and can be selected — when two things are true: no tile lies on top of it from a higher layer, and at least one of its long left or right edges has no tile beside it on the same layer.
A tile with neighbours on both sides is locked, even if nothing sits on top. A tile buried under the pyramid is locked until the tiles above come off. On the board, free tiles sit bright and full; locked tiles are dimmed.
Controls
Tap, or use the keyboard
Every method does the same thing. Pick whichever fits the device in your hand.
Everywhere
Tap / click
Tap a free tile to select it, tap it again to deselect, or tap a matching free tile to complete the pair. Tapping a blocked tile does nothing but a soft nudge sound.
Mobile & desktop
On-screen buttons
Undo, Hint, Shuffle, and New game sit in the toolbar above the board so the whole loop works with one thumb. The mute toggle and stats live there too.
Desktop
Keyboard
U undoes, H asks for a hint, S shuffles, N deals a new board, and M mutes the sound. Esc clears the current selection. Every button also has a visible focus ring.
The loop
Four steps you repeat all game
Reading the board, then choosing which pair to take, is the whole game.
- 1
Read the layout
All 144 tiles are stacked face-up in the Turtle shape — an eight-row base with a tail and neck, then smaller blocks stepping up to a single tile on top. The centre rises five layers high, so most tiles start buried.
- 2
Find the free tiles
A tile is free when no tile lies on top of it and either its left or its right long edge is clear. Only free tiles can be taken. Free tiles sit full-strength; blocked tiles are dimmed.
- 3
Match pairs to remove them
Tap one free tile to pick it up, then tap a second free tile with the same face to lift both off. Any two Flowers match each other, and any two Seasons match each other; every other tile matches only its exact twin.
- 4
Clear the board
Removing tiles frees the ones they were covering or blocking. Keep pairing until all 72 pairs are gone. If you run out of moves, Shuffle re-deals the remaining tiles into a position that can still be solved.
Rules & tiles
Every rule that decides a move
The objective
Remove every tile from the Turtle by matching free tiles two at a time. Clearing the final pair wins the board; there are 72 pairs in all.
What "free" means
A tile can be taken only if nothing overlaps it from a higher layer and at least one of its left or right sides has no neighbouring tile on the same layer. A tile with tiles on both sides, or anything stacked on top, is locked until those clear.
Matching
Two free tiles pair when they show the same face — the same number and suit, the same Wind, or the same Dragon. The four Flowers all count as matching each other, and the four Seasons all count as matching each other, so those eight tiles are easier to clear.
The tile set
Circles, Bamboo, and Characters run one to nine with four copies each (108 tiles). Add four copies each of the four Winds and three Dragons (28 tiles), plus one of each Flower and Season (8 tiles) — 144 in total.
Getting stuck
If no two free tiles match, the board is stuck. Shuffle rearranges the remaining tiles into a solvable position; it always stays available. Undo steps back through every match you have made, without limit.
Common mistakes
Why solvable boards get stuck
Clearing every pair on sight
Matching the first free pair you spot often removes tiles you needed as future matches for their siblings. Pause and check all four copies of a face before you commit.
Ignoring the bottom rows
The long base rows hold tiles hostage from both ends. If you spend all your early moves on the easy top of the pyramid, the base locks up and the board stalls.
Shuffling too late
Once the board is stuck, shuffling is the only way forward apart from undo. Reaching for shuffle a move or two before you are fully stuck keeps more options open.
Treating undo as a rewind button only
Undo is unlimited and free. Use it to test a line — take a pair, see what it opens, and step back if the board did not improve.
- Always take the tile that opens the most new tiles — usually one from the top layers or the end of a long row.
- Free the long bottom rows early. Tiles trapped in the middle of a row need both ends cleared before they move.
- Before you match a pair, check where the other two copies of that face are. Removing one pair can strand the other.
- When all four copies of a face are free, it is usually safe to clear two of them right away.
- Keep at least one matchable pair in reserve rather than clearing every free match the instant you see it.
- Use a hint when you have scanned the board and genuinely cannot find a move — it points at a live pair, not the best one.
- Shuffle is a reset, not a defeat. It is better to shuffle a stuck board than to undo twenty moves guessing.
Where you can play
Same game on phone and desktop
mahjonggame.app runs in any modern browser with no app to install. Progress stays on the device you played on.
Desktop browsers
Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari all run the game with no plugin. Click tiles with the mouse, or drive the whole game from the keyboard with U, H, S, N, and M.
Phones and tablets
The layout is touch-first. 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.
Progress on this device
Best time, best score, games played, win rate, and win streak live in local browser storage. They stay until you reset them or clear site data, and they do not sync between devices.
Still stuck on a rule? Read the Mahjong FAQ or jump in and play.
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