How to Play Mahjong Solitaire

Welcome to Mahjong Solitaire! This is a classic single-player tile-matching puzzle.

The board starts with 144 tiles arranged in a layered pyramid shape called the "Turtle" layout. Tiles are stacked on multiple layers, with higher layers sitting on top of lower ones.

Your goal is to remove all tiles from the board by matching them in pairs. But there is a catch -- you can only select tiles that are free.

Mahjong Solitaire uses 7 categories of tiles:

- Bamboo (1-9): Depicted with bamboo sticks. 4 copies each.

- Circles (1-9): Depicted with circular dots. 4 copies each.

- Characters (1-9): Chinese numeral characters. 4 copies each.

- Winds (East, South, West, North): 4 copies each.

- Dragons (Red, Green, White): 4 copies each.

- Flowers (Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, Bamboo): 1 copy each. Any flower matches any other flower.

- Seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter): 1 copy each. Any season matches any other season.

Total: 9x4x3 + 4x4 + 3x4 + 4 + 4 = 144 tiles.

A tile is free (selectable) when it meets two conditions:

1. Not covered: No tile on a higher layer is sitting on top of it.

2. Open on at least one side: The tile's left side or right side is not blocked by another tile on the same layer.

A tile blocked on both left and right, or covered from above, cannot be selected. Only tiles on the edges of each layer -- or those whose neighbors have been removed -- become free.

This is the core puzzle: you must carefully choose which pairs to remove to avoid getting stuck with no valid matches.

Two tiles match if they are the same type:

- Suited tiles (Bamboo, Circles, Characters): Must be the same suit AND same number. Bamboo 3 matches Bamboo 3, but not Bamboo 5 or Circles 3.

- Winds: Must be the same wind. East matches East only.

- Dragons: Must be the same dragon. Red matches Red only.

- Flowers: Any flower matches any flower. Plum matches Orchid, Chrysanthemum, or Bamboo Flower.

- Seasons: Any season matches any season. Spring matches Summer, Autumn, or Winter.

Flowers and Seasons are special -- since there is only 1 copy of each, they must match across different values within their category.

To make a move, click on two free, matching tiles. Both tiles are removed from the board, reducing the tile count by 2.

Removing tiles from the edges and top layers frees up tiles that were previously blocked. This opens new matching possibilities.

In this example, removing the two matching tiles on the ends of the row would free up the tiles behind them. Every pair you remove potentially creates new opportunities.

Think carefully about which pairs to remove first -- the order matters!

The key to winning Mahjong Solitaire is planning ahead:

- Prioritize top layers: Remove tiles from the highest layers first to expose more tiles below.

- Open both sides: When possible, choose matches that unblock tiles on both the left and right.

- Watch for triples: If 3 of the same tile are free, consider which 2 to remove carefully. The remaining one needs a match!

- Count remaining matches: Keep track of how many copies of each tile remain. If you see 4 matching tiles, you have flexibility. If only 2 remain, make sure both can become free.

- Avoid dead ends: Sometimes a valid match now can lock you out of future matches. Think 2-3 moves ahead.

The game ends in a loss if tiles remain on the board but no valid matching pairs can be formed from the free tiles.

This can happen when:

- Matching tiles are stacked on top of each other (only one can be free at a time)

- Matching tiles are side by side in the same row (both blocked from the same direction)

- All remaining free tiles are different types with no matches

Not every game is winnable! The random shuffle can sometimes create unsolvable layouts. Studies suggest about 3-5% of Turtle layouts have no solution.