Keyboard controls

Tab enters or leaves the board. Arrow keys choose a free tile; Enter or Space selects it. Choose a matching tile and press again. Home/End chooses the first/last free tile. Escape cancels selection. H: hint; Ctrl/Cmd+Z: undo.

Mahjong Solitaire Online

Match free tiles in pairs to clear all 144 tiles from the board. Choose from five formations, each starting with a verified solution. Your pair choices still matter: a legal match can leave the remaining tiles blocked. Play above without a download or account.

Which tiles can you match?

Click or tap two matching tiles that are both free. A tile is free when nothing overlaps it from above and at least one of its left or right sides is open. Both conditions must hold. Space above or below a tile on the screen does not count as an open side.

Blocked tiles appear dimmer and cannot be selected. Even a tile that only partly covers another tile prevents that lower tile from being free.

Matching examples, assuming both tiles are free
Pair	Can it match?
2 of Circles + 2 of Circles	Yes: the type and number match.
2 of Circles + 2 of Bamboo	No: the number alone is not enough.
Spring + Winter	Yes: any two Seasons match.
Plum + Orchid	Yes: any two Flowers match.
Spring + Plum	No: a Season does not match a Flower.

Winds and Dragons must match their own symbol, too: East matches East, and a Red Dragon matches another Red Dragon.

Two examples of opening the board

These small diagrams illustrate tile positions. The letters identify positions, not matching tile faces.

1. Only one horizontal side needs to be open

Three adjacent tiles sit on the same layer with nothing above them. A is free on the left and C is free on the right. B is blocked on both sides. Match A with a matching free tile elsewhere on the board and B becomes free, even while C remains beside it.

If another tile also covered B from above, removing A would not be enough. You would need to remove that upper tile as well. Check both the side blockers and the layers before choosing a pair.

2. Matching the wrong two tiles can trap their partners

Imagine all four East Wind tiles: A sits directly above D, while A, B, and C are free. D has an open side and only A covers it. Matching B with C leaves A and D trapped: D cannot be selected until A is removed, but A now has no free partner. Match A with B instead; D becomes free and you can match C with D.

Before removing an easy pair, look for its other copies. Prefer a pair that releases a needed partner or opens a blocked section. A starting deal with a solution can still reach a dead end after a different choice, as this example shows.

Choose a formation

The Formation selector offers Pyramid (Easy), Turtle (Classic), Fortress (Medium), Bridge (Hard), and Dragon (Expert). Every formation uses 144 tiles, so each game takes 72 matches to clear. The arrangement of layers and side blockers changes the challenge.

Start with Pyramid if you want to learn how tiles become free, or choose Turtle for the classic arrangement. Changing Formation starts a new deal. Use New Game when you want another deal in your current formation.

Hints, counters, and getting unstuck

Hint highlights a legal pair and favors pairs that open more tiles. Repeated presses cycle through available pairs. Each hint costs 5 points, with the score stopping at zero; it does not guarantee that the whole board can be cleared from that choice.
Matches shows how many pairs you have removed out of 72.
Available pairs, beside the double-arrow symbol, counts possible pairs right now. Three free identical tiles make three possible pair combinations, even though you can remove only one pair before the position changes.
Undo puts the last matched pair back in its original positions and reverses the points earned by that match.

When there are no matching pairs left, the game offers these choices:

Undo: revisit your last choice if a previous move is available.
Shuffle: rearrange the remaining tile faces into a solvable position. Removed tiles stay removed. This costs 25 points, with the score stopping at zero, and clears the Undo history.
Restart: return to the original deal and begin again with your progress and counters reset.

Common questions

Why will two identical tiles not match?

Check whether both are free. An identical face cannot be selected if another tile overlaps it from above or if both horizontal sides are blocked. See the side-blocking example.

Does a solvable starting deal mean any pair will work?

No. The initial arrangement has a verified route to completion, but another order of matches can trap tiles. Undo lets you reconsider a choice; the no-moves controls also offer Shuffle and Restart.

Is this the four-player Mahjong game?

No. This is the single-player tile-matching puzzle: remove free pairs until the board is empty.

Watch a Mahjong Solitaire tutorial

Try the same planning habit with cards

If you enjoy thinking about what a move will unlock, try FreeCell Solitaire: every card is visible, but access depends on the cards below it and your spare space. Its three-card move example shows how temporary storage helps. For a game about building runs, play Spider Solitaire and compare mixed-suit and same-suit runs. You can also return to classic Klondike Solitaire.