How to Play Mahjong Solitaire: Rules & Strategies

Derived from the Chinese game of Mahjong (or Mahjongg), you match identical tiles together to clear a board when playing Mahjong Solitaire. You can adjust how challenging the game is by choosing between tile configurations of different sizes and complexities.

In this post, we explain how to play this single-player game and how you can use different strategies to win regardless of which tile configuration you choose. Get started testing strategies right by playing Mahjong Solitaire for free online at Solitaire Bliss.

Mahjong Solitaire Objective

To win Mahjong Solitaire, you need to clear all the tiles from the board by matching pairs of tiles together. The catch is that you can only match “open” tiles, or those that are uncovered and don’t have another tile flanking the left or right side of it.

How to Set Up Mahjong Solitaire

Based on the layout you choose, you can adjust the difficulty of the game. If the board is large and has more tiles stacked upon it, it will be more complex compared to a board with a smaller dimension, as the larger board has more matching options that are covered.

In a typical game, you play with 144 tiles, although you can choose easier layouts and your own number of tiles so long as you have an equal amount of matching pairs.

Mahjong Solitaire Layouts

If you’re setting up your own Mahjong Solitaire game, you’ll need to choose how many tiles you want to play with, while keeping an equal amount of matching pairs, in addition to what kind of Mahjong layout you want to use. All layouts will have 4 layers of tiles. Here are the most common layouts in Mahjong:

• Traditional or spider layout: This layout features Mahjong tiles stacked in a spider shape. The second layer of tiles is a 4x4 square, and the third layer is a 2x2 square. The final tile is the cherry on top.
• Pyramid layout: This layout is arranged in a diamond shape. You’ll need to build three more levels that decrease as you rise to the top.
• Square layout: The square layout is built with a 6x10 bottom layer, followed by a 5x8 layer. Then, add a 3x6 layer and a 1x4 layer after that.

Solitaire Bliss allows you to choose from 43 different layouts online, with different shapes like keys, anchors, or stars, all without you having to set it up yourself.

How to Play Mahjong Solitaire

Once you’ve chosen your layout, you’re ready to begin matching uncovered tiles together.

1. Study the Board of Tiles

Take a minute to study the board and get used to the layout, as the tiles can often look similar.

There are three suits consisting of 36 tiles of each suit:

• Dots
• Bamboo
• Characters

There are two types of special tiles named honor tiles and bonus tiles:

• Honor tiles
• Dragons: Three sets of four dragon tiles
• Winds: Four sets of four wind tiles
• Bonus tiles
• Flowers: Four tiles
• Seasons: Four tiles

For most tiles, you must pair identical matches, but you can pair any flower tiles together and any seasonal tiles together.

The more tiles you can pair, the more tiles will become available for more matches.

2. Pair and Remove Matching Tiles Together

You can only pair the tiles that are the same and are exposed, or don’t have any tiles touching an outer side. The exception is that you can pair any Season and Flower tiles together—they don’t need to be identical matches. By seeing where the different tiles are, you’ll be able to remember their location and make more matches.

3. Think Ahead to Free Up Important Tiles

Match the tiles that will give you the most possible future moves, so you don’t want to start matching tiles too quickly. Evaluate which tiles you will free up by making a match and if those new tiles can be paired and removed too. If you start matching too fast, you might miss making a move that yields the most future moves.

4. Undo Moves or Reshuffle the Tiles When You’re Stuck

By playing Mahjong online, you can click the undo button to undo moves if you get stuck. You can also reshuffle the board, which allows you to move around unpaired tiles. With Solitaire Bliss, the game counts how many pairs of identical tiles are left on the board and prompts you to reshuffle if you’re out of moves.

Mahjong Solitaire Strategies

Here are some strategies that will help you win Mahjong Solitaire quickly:

• Choose matches that will lead to additional pairings. If there are three of the same tiles open on the board, take a moment to think about future moves. Because only one of those pairings will give you the most future matches, make sure you think about all your options before you make a match.
• Prioritize pairing tiles in high piles and long rows. Staying focused on future moves, do your best to pair tiles in the high piles or long horizontal rows. If you don’t, you might end up having two of the same tiles stacked on top of each other, preventing you from winning the game.
• Pay attention to which matching tiles are stacked. Be mindful when matching tiles that are stacked. If there are too many stacked tiles that match, you won’t be able to make any more moves in the future. So when you have matching tiles that are stacked, look on the board for other matches and try to anticipate how you’ll unstack the tiles to keep your options open.

Card Games Similar to Mahjong Solitaire

If you enjoy Mahjong Solitaire, here are some other similar puzzle games you can play:

• Memory: In this matching game, cards are laid facedown on the game board. You’re allowed to flip up two cards at a time, looking to see if they’re a match. If they are, you can match them and remove them from the playing area. If not, you have to flip them back facedown and try to find all matching pairs.
• Pyramid Solitaire: In this game, cards are dealt in the form of a pyramid. You remove cards in pairs, so long as they add up to 13—the king doesn’t need a match because it equals 13. You’re allowed to draw cards from the stockpile to help make matches.
• Golf Solitaire: In this Solitaire game, you need to move cards from the seven columns to the waste pile. The trick is that the card that’s moved to the waste pile has to be higher or lower than the card on the top of the waste pile. You’re allowed to use cards from the stockpile to help you move more cards to the waste pile.

Ready to play Mahjong Solitaire?

Now that you know how to set up and play Mahjong Solitaire, you can use the tile-matching strategies and tips to start winning games. Mahjong Solitaire is free to play online through Solitaire Bliss. Try and beat your fastest time and compete against other players by logging in today!