How to play Mahjong solitaire

The board is a four-layer stack of 80 tiles: 40 matching pairs. Tap two identical free tiles to remove them.

A tile is free when nothing is resting on top of it and at least one of its long sides (left or right) is open. Tiles that are covered or boxed in on both sides can't be picked yet.

Clear all 80 tiles to win the board.

Every board can be cleared

Each layout is built backwards from a full solution, so there is always a way to clear it. If your choices leave no free pairs, reshuffle for free: the remaining tiles are rearranged into a new layout that can still be solved.

Mahjong strategy tips

• Uncover the tall stacks first. Tiles at the top of the pile block the most other tiles.
• Open up long rows from the ends: freeing one end makes the next tile playable.
• When three or four copies of a tile are free, think about which pair to take: the wrong one can trap the last copy.
• Don't just grab the first free pair you see. Look for the match that frees the most new tiles.

Is this mahjong game free?

Yes. HypeGameRoom is free: no sign-up, no download and nothing to buy to play. Arcade games reward Neons, a play-only currency that can never be cashed out.

Is this real mahjong?

It's Mahjong solitaire (also called Shanghai or tile matching), the single-player matching game played with mahjong tiles, not the four-player table game.

Can every board be cleared?

Yes. Every board is built from a known solution, and if you get stuck you can reshuffle the remaining tiles for free into a layout that can still be cleared.

Which tiles can I pick?

Any tile that has nothing on top of it and an open left or right side.