Mahjong Solitaire Layouts and Rule Variations

The basic rule of Mahjong Solitaire hardly changes from one version to the next: match two free tiles, clear the table. What does change is the shape the tiles are piled in, and a handful of smaller rules about Flowers, Seasons, shuffling and the clock. Here is what our game does and what you may have seen elsewhere.

The Layouts in Our Game

A layout is the arrangement of tiles at the start. Bigger layouts take longer and have more tiles hidden under others; smaller ones fit a phone screen with larger tiles. Choose one with New Game. On a phone we start you on Pyramid; on a bigger screen, on Turtle.

Smaller layouts don't use every tile. For those, the game picks a random selection of matching pairs from the full set, so you may see only two of some tiles and none of others.

About the Turtle

The Turtle is the shape most people know, and it goes back to the earliest computer versions of the game: a wide, rounded base like a shell, layers rising to a peak in the middle, and single tiles sticking out at each end for the head and tail. Every version draws it a little differently. Ours keeps the spirit: a broad bottom layer, three smaller layers stacked in the middle, and a head and tail that block the ends of the middle rows.

Flowers and Seasons

In nearly every version of Mahjong Solitaire, any Flower matches any other Flower and any Season matches any other Season. That is the rule we use. A few older sets and programs ask you to match them exactly, Plum with Plum, but since a set has only one of each, that can't work with a single set; those versions use two sets of bonus tiles. Some very simple versions leave Flowers and Seasons out entirely and use only the 136 other tiles.

In our game: Flowers match Flowers and Seasons match Seasons, as on most tables. Every tile says FLOWER or SEASON across the top so there's no guessing.

The Free-Tile Rule

The usual rule, and ours, is that a tile is free when nothing covers it and its left or right side is open. Some versions use a stricter rule where a tile covered by even the edge of a half-offset tile is blocked; we use that strict version too, since it is what you would see with real tiles on a table. A handful of variations allow tiles to be freed from the top or bottom edge as well. That makes the game much easier and is not traditional, so we don't offer it.

Solvable Deals versus Random Deals

With a real set, you shuffle the tiles face down and build the layout by hand, so some games simply can't be won. Many computer versions deal the same way. Ours builds every deal backwards, so each one has at least one way to clear it. Purists sometimes prefer pure random deals because winning one feels earned; we think an unwinnable game is no fun when you sat down to relax.

Shuffles and Undo

Versions differ a lot here. Some allow no undo at all and end the game when you're stuck. Some give you three shuffles; some subtract points for each one. We allow unlimited Undo and unlimited Shuffles, and simply note how many shuffles you used when you win. If you want a harder challenge, make your own house rule: no shuffles, or no hints, and see how often you can still clear the Turtle.

Timers and Scores

Some versions run a countdown clock or give points for speed and for matching tiles of the same kind in a row. Ours has no time limit and no score. A timer is available if you like to beat your own best time: turn on Show a timer in Settings. Your best time for each layout appears in Statistics.

Related Games

If you know the tiles from the four-player game, you might enjoy them in a different way here. If you enjoy one-player puzzles with no luck involved once the game starts, FreeCell is a good next stop. For something with dominoes, try Chicken Foot.