Mahjong Solitaire Rules & Instructions

The Core Objective

The objective of Mahjong Solitaire is to remove all 144 tiles from the board by selecting and pairing identical available tiles. When the entire table is cleared of tiles, you win the game.

Understanding Free Tiles

The central challenge of Mahjong Solitaire lies in tile availability. You cannot pair just any two visible tiles; both tiles must be free. A tile is considered free only when:

• No Top Cover: No other tile is resting on top of it, even by a single fraction of a tile.
• Open Side: At least one lateral edge (either the left or right side) is completely unobstructed by another tile on the exact same layer.

If a tile is sandwiched between two adjacent tiles on both its left and right, it is locked. Clearing one of those adjacent tiles will free it for matching.

Tile Matching Rules

Tiles belong to distinct categories with specific matching conditions:

1. Standard Suits (Dots, Bamboos, Characters)

Must match the exact same suit and exact same number. For example, a 3 of Circles can only be paired with another 3 of Circles. There are 4 copies of each tile in the 144-tile deck.

2. Honor Tiles (Winds & Dragons)

Must match the exact same symbol:

• Winds: East (東) matches East, South (南) matches South, West (西) matches West, North (北) matches North.
• Dragons: Red (中) matches Red, Green (發) matches Green, White (white frame) matches White.

3. Wildcards: Seasons & Flowers

There is only 1 copy of each Season and Flower tile in the entire deck. To compensate, they act as category wildcards:

• Any Season matches any Season: Spring (春), Summer (夏), Autumn (秋), and Winter (冬) can be paired together in any combination.
• Any Flower matches any Flower: Plum (梅), Orchid (蘭), Bamboo (竹), and Chrysanthemum (菊) can be paired together in any combination.

Ready to Put Your Skills to the Test?

Experience guaranteed solvable deals, instant hints, and smooth undo controls on our free browser board.