Mahjong Solitaire

Browser Controls

• Match a Pair: Click or tap two matching free tiles to clear them from the board. A tile is free when nothing covers it and its left or right side is open — the game prompts you to match free tiles, and only those are selectable.
• Hint (+10s): The Hint button points out an available match — and adds ten seconds to your clock. A fair price when the pair is hiding in plain sight.
• Shuffle (+30s): Shuffle rearranges the remaining tiles for a 30-second penalty — the heavy rescue for a board that's locked up completely.
• Undo & New Game: Undo steps back through your matches so you can try a different order; New Game deals a fresh board any time, and Quit returns to the layout menu.
• Settings: Toggle music, tile and match sounds, and visual effects (particles and animations) any time from Settings.

Special Rules

• Free Tiles Only: You can only match tiles that are free — uncovered, with an open left or right side. Tiles buried under others or pinned between neighbors must be opened up first, and that ordering is the entire game.
• Three Layouts: Garden is 60 tiles in 2 layers, Fortress is 100 tiles in 2 layers, and Turtle is the classic 144-tile formation — taller stacks, longer rows, and far more ways to trap yourself.
• Rescues Cost Time: Hints add 10 seconds, shuffles add 30, and both go straight onto your clock. Undo is the quiet alternative: unwind a few greedy matches and often the board opens up on its own.
• No Moves Left: If no matching free tiles remain, the game tells you outright — and offers Shuffle or Undo to dig back out. Deals can genuinely dead-end in mahjong solitaire; playing to avoid that corner is what separates good clears from lucky ones.

Tile-Matching Tips

• Work the Top and the Long Rows: Tiles high on the stack and in long horizontal walls block the most neighbors. Clear downward and inward — every tile you free up multiplies your options.
• Don't Grab the First Pair: When three of a kind are free, the pair you pick decides what opens next. Take one extra second to choose the match that unlocks the most buried tiles.
• Hunt the Fourth Tile: Every tile has exactly three twins. Before matching a pair, glance for the other two — burying a needed twin under a careless match is how boards die.
• Undo Before You Shuffle: A locked board is usually two or three greedy matches old. Undo back to the fork and pick differently — it's free, and it teaches you more than a shuffle ever will.