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How to play

How to play Mahjong Solitaire

Step-by-step Mahjong Solitaire for a first table, including what the Tilehaus interface expects you to click.

Play Mahjong Solitaire

Animated how-to: mahjong solitaire — match two free identical tiles and clear the stacked temple.
Watch once — it loops. The words underneath are if you want them.

Good to know

  • Mahjong solitaire is unrelated in rules to four-player mahjong even though it uses the same tile faces.
  • Activision released Shanghai in 1986; the turtle (or Shanghai) layout became the default computer arrangement.
  • A tile is free only if it is not covered and at least one of its left or right sides is open.

Before the first tile

Open the Mahjong Solitaire table. Choose seat count 1. For a first game, enable bots so empty seats still draw and discard on time.

Open the top first

Clear tiles that unlock whole columns. Do not spend both copies of a scarce honor if one remaining copy is deeply buried.

Count copies

Each face appears four times. If you see three free copies, matching two of them can strand the fourth. Prefer matches that uncover new free tiles.

Questions

Is mahjong solitaire real mahjong?

No. It is a matching puzzle that reuses mahjong tile art. Four-player mahjong is a draw-and-discard meld game.