Here is a free majhong solitaire game you can play online. This Chinese tile game is a challenging puzzle good for your brain!
This game is part of the free online brain games collection.
To begin, click the Small, Medium, or Large button under the picture of the game. This opens the game in a pop-up window.
If you like this game, you might enjoy Mahjong Butterfly.
Note: The instructions below are for the old Adobe Flash game.
Tile games like this one train concentration and visual perception skills.
The object of majhong solitaire is to remove pairs of matching tiles from the board until the board is cleared.
A tile can be removed if either the left or right side of the tile is not blocked by another tile AND another tile is not lying on top of the tile.
See below for rules plus tips on mahjong strategy. If you like this game, you might enjoy the other free mahjong tile games on this site.
HOW TO PLAY. As the name "solitaire" implies, this is a single-person game. You can actually play mahjong against friends as a tile board game, but the setup and gameplay is quite different.
As mentioned above, the goal of majhong solitaire is to remove all the tiles from the board. You remove the tiles as matching pairs.
A tile (also called a stone) is available to be selected if it meets two conditions:
(1) No tile blocking either the left or right of the tile; and
(2) No tiles covering the top of the tile.
To select a tile for removal, click the tile once. For example, suppose you see a Bamboo 7 tile on the left of the board and another Bamboo 7 tile on the right, and they are both unblocked.
Click the first Bamboo 7 tile once. Then click the other Bamboo 7 tile. Those two tiles will then disappear from the board. Continue like that until all tiles are removed from the board.
Tile games like majhong can be frustrating because the gameplay is slow at first until you get used to it. Majhong tile games remind me of word search puzzles; you have to look patiently for patterns hidden in the puzzle.
In the case of mahjong, it's matching pairs you are looking for. So don't rush. When the majhong solitaire puzzle first appears, take several seconds to scan the entire structure to get an idea of where various tiles are located.
I often start at the highest point of the tile stack and then examine the tiles in a spiral pattern. For example, if the majhong tiles are stacked in the shape of a pyramid, you might begin by looking at the tile at the apex (top of the pyramid), followed by the second tier, then third tier, and so on down to the base.
The idea is to become familiar with the general distribution of tiles. That way your eyes won't just be randomly jumping around the board. Scoping out the layout of the tiles at the beginning will make you faster and more efficient at finding matching tile pairs.
The majority of the tiles in this game correspond to number/shape combinations. For example, you'll see Wheels 1-9, Bamboo 1-9, and Chinese Characters 1-9.
But this version of majhong solitaire also includes "special" tiles. The special tiles are very helpful, because you can pair them with each other even when the symbols don't match.
Special tiles include:
Compass Directions. The four compass tiles are North, South, East, and West. You can match pairs of these in any combination. For example, you can match a South tile with an East tile.
Seasons. The four season tiles are Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Like the directional tiles, these can be paired up in any combination. For example, you could remove a Spring tile and a Winter tile together.
Plants & Animals. These tiles can be matched together in any combination. Examples include the Mum tile and Peacock tile.
Here are some examples of the tiles found in this free majhong game. Notice the images on the tiles.
The more familiar you become with the image types, the faster you'll recognize matching tile pairs during the game.
Chinese tile games like majhong solitaire are fun and challenging. If you find this game too hard, try practicing just five or ten minutes or day. I'm sure you'll get better!
Published: 06/23/2013
Last Updated: 06/11/2020
No sign-up or log-in needed. Just go to a game page and start playing!
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