Mahjong Solitaire: classic tile matching game online free
Mahjong Solitaire is a free tile matching game you can play online in any browser. Match identical free tiles in pairs and remove all tiles from the board. Play 9 board layouts, from the gentle Little Hill to the classic 144-tile Turtle, in a calm Relaxed mode or a fast Timed mode with combos, and race everyone on the Daily board. Every deal can be cleared, with hints, shuffles, undo, 4 tile themes, 27 stars, 25 badges and free leaderboards.
How to play Mahjong Solitaire
- Choose a mode: Relaxed, Timed or the Daily board, and pick a layout.
- Find two identical tiles that are free: nothing on top and the left or right side open.
- Click or tap both tiles to remove them from the board.
- Any flower matches any flower and any season matches any season.
- Use Hint, Shuffle or Undo when you are stuck.
- Remove every tile to clear the board and earn stars.
With a keyboard, the arrow keys jump between free tiles, Space or Enter selects, H shows a hint, X shuffles, Z undoes and P pauses. With a mouse, a right-click undoes and the wheel zooms in on the board; on a phone, pinch to zoom and drag to move around.
Which tiles are free?
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| ⬆️ Nothing on top | No tile on the next level covers any part of it. |
| ↔️ One side open | Its left side or its right side has no tile next to it on the same level. |
| 🌸 Flowers and seasons | Any flower matches any flower, any season any season; all other tiles need an identical partner. |
| 🔀 No moves left | Shuffle the tiles that are left: they are dealt again so the board can still be cleared. |
The 144 tiles
| Tiles | How many | What they look like |
|---|---|---|
| 🔵 Dots (circles) | 1–9, 4 of each | Coloured coins, one to nine |
| 🎋 Bamboo | 1–9, 4 of each | Green sticks; the 1 is a bird |
| 🀇 Characters | 1–9, 4 of each | A Chinese number over the red 萬 sign |
| 🌬️ Winds | 4 kinds, 4 of each | 東 East, 南 South, 西 West, 北 North |
| 🐉 Dragons | 3 kinds, 4 of each | Red 中, green 發 and the white dragon (a blue frame) |
| 🌸 Flowers and 🍁 Seasons | 4 + 4 | Each flower matches any flower, each season any season |
Small numbers and letters in the corners (turn them off in the settings) make every tile easy to read, even on a phone.
The nine layouts
| Layout | Tiles | Character |
|---|---|---|
| ⛰️ Little Hill | 50 | A gentle starter |
| 🏯 Fortress | 72 | Four towers and a keep |
| 🦋 Butterfly | 80 | Two wide wings |
| ➕ Cross | 90 | A stepped plus sign |
| 🌸 Flower | 98 | Petal rings around a centre |
| 🌉 Bridge | 112 | Two towers and a long deck |
| 🔺 Pyramid | 130 | Five levels high |
| 🗻 Twin Peaks | 140 | Two pyramids side by side |
| 🐢 Turtle | 144 | The classic layout with every tile |
The first three layouts are open from the start; clear a layout to open the next. Earn up to three stars on each: ★ clear it, ★★ without hints or shuffles, ★★★ also faster than 2 seconds per tile.
Relaxed, Timed, Daily and leaderboards
Relaxed has no clock, unlimited help, and remembers your board. Timed gives you 2.5 seconds per tile: match quickly to build combos up to ×10 (10 points × combo per pair), and clear the board for 1,000 points plus 10 per second left; a hint or shuffle costs 15 seconds. The Daily board is the same for everyone each day and ranks the fastest clears (+30 s per hint, +60 s per shuffle). Timed and Daily have free leaderboards for today, this week and all time, and after a clear you can challenge a friend with a link to the same deal.
Badges
There are 25 badges for clearing layouts, stars, combos, matching pairs, dragons, winds and flowers, Timed scores, Daily boards, speed, clean clears and beating a friend. Open the medal button in the game to see your progress.
| Badge | How to earn it |
|---|---|
| 🀄 First Clear | Clear a board. |
| 🐢 Turtle Master | Clear the classic Turtle (144 tiles). |
| 🗺️ World Traveller | Clear all 9 layouts. |
| ⭐ Star Collector | Earn 12 stars. |
| 🌟 Celestial | Earn all 27 stars. |
| 🧘 Pure Mind | Clear a board with no hints, shuffles or undo. |
| ⚡ Quick Hands | Clear any board in under 3 minutes. |
| 🚀 Turtle Sprint | Clear the Turtle in under 6 minutes. |
| 🔥 Hot Streak | Reach a ×5 combo. |
| 💥 Inferno | Reach a ×10 combo. |
| 🀅 Tile Collector | Match 500 pairs. |
| 🏯 Grand Master | Match 5,000 pairs. |
| 🐉 Dragon Tamer | Match 100 pairs of dragons. |
| 🌬️ Four Winds | Match 100 pairs of winds. |
| 🌸 Flower Garden | Match 50 pairs of flowers or seasons. |
| ⏱️ Beat the Clock | Clear a board in Timed mode. |
| 🏅 Time Lord | Score 3,000 in Timed mode. |
| 🏆 Lightning Master | Score 6,000 in Timed mode. |
| 📅 Daily Tiles | Clear the Daily board. |
| 🗓️ Week of Tiles | Clear the Daily board on 7 days. |
| 🏮 Moon Festival | Clear the Daily board on 30 days. |
| 🎎 Ten Clears | Clear 10 boards. |
| 🐼 Fifty Clears | Clear 50 boards. |
| 🌙 Night Owl | Clear a board between midnight and 5 am. |
| ⚔️ Duelist | Beat the time of a friend’s challenge. |
Mahjong Solitaire tips
- Open the tall stacks first. Tiles on top of high stacks hide many others: remove them early.
- Free the long rows. Work on the ends of the longest rows so more tiles become free.
- Look before you match. If three of a kind are free, take the pair that frees more tiles.
- Watch for buried partners. When two of a kind are left and one lies under the other, the top one can never be matched first: plan for it.
- Use undo wisely. In Relaxed mode, undo freely to try another path; in Timed mode keep the combo going.
- Count the moves. The Moves counter shows how many pairs you can take right now; when it gets low, think ahead.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mahjong Solitaire free?
Yes. Mahjong Solitaire is completely free to play online, with no sign-up, no download and no in-app purchases. It runs in your browser on computers, tablets and phones, and your stars, best times and badges are saved on your device.
Is this the same as the Mahjong game with four players?
No. Mahjong Solitaire (also called Shanghai or tile matching) is a one-player puzzle that uses the 144 tiles of a Mahjong set. You do not build hands: you remove matching pairs of free tiles until the board is empty. Shanghai is a trademark of Activision and Mahjong Titans is a Microsoft game; this Mahjong Solitaire is an independent game and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.
How do I play Mahjong Solitaire?
Click or tap two identical tiles to remove them from the board. You can only pick free tiles. Remove all the tiles to win. Any flower tile matches any other flower, and any season tile matches any other season.
What is a free tile?
A tile is free when no other tile lies on top of it, even partly, and when its left side or its right side is open (no tile right next to it on the same level). Tiles that are not free are dimmed, so you can see at a glance which tiles you can take.
Can every board be solved?
Yes. Every deal is built by taking pairs of free tiles off the board in a random order, so there is always at least one way to clear it. A careless match can still leave you stuck; then shuffle (the remaining tiles are dealt again so they can still be cleared) or undo.
What are the Relaxed and Timed modes?
Relaxed has no clock and unlimited undo, hints and shuffles, and saves your board so you can come back later. In Timed mode you have 2.5 seconds per tile on the clock: quick matches build combos worth up to 100 points a pair, and clearing the board adds 1,000 points plus 10 for every second left. Hints and shuffles cost 15 seconds.
What is the Daily board?
Every day there is one Daily board: the same layout and the same tiles for everyone. Clear it as fast as you can for the fastest-time leaderboard; each hint adds 30 seconds and each shuffle 60 seconds to your time.
How many layouts are there?
Nine: Little Hill, Fortress, Butterfly, Cross, Flower, Bridge, Pyramid, Twin Peaks and the classic Turtle with all 144 tiles. The first three are open from the start; clear a layout to open the next one.
How do I get three stars?
Clearing a layout gives one star. Clear it without hints or shuffles for two stars, and also faster than the target time (2 seconds per tile) for three stars.
What are combos?
Match a pair within 4 seconds of the last one and your combo grows, up to ×10. In Timed mode every pair is worth 10 points times the combo, so a fast flow of matches scores much more.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. Mahjong Solitaire works on phones and tablets in portrait and landscape. The board is sized to fit your screen, small numbers in the tile corners help on small screens, and a tap selects a tile. On big layouts, pinch with two fingers to zoom in and drag to move around the board.
More puzzle and card games: Solitaire, Dot Connect, Sudoku and Minesweeper.