The 144 tiles
One hundred and forty four tiles, matched in pairs, cleared from the top down.
The set on this board is the standard one: 144 tiles, laid out in a three layer pyramid. Most of them come in fours, which is why you will often see four of a kind and have to choose between them. The exceptions are the flowers and seasons, which match by group rather than by face, and they are the ones that surprise people.
What is in the set
- Characters, one to nine, four of each. The suit with Chinese numerals on it.
- Bamboo, one to nine, four of each. The one stick tile is usually drawn as a bird.
- Circles, one to nine, four of each.
- Winds: east, south, west and north, four of each.
- Dragons: red, green and white, four of each.
- Four flowers and four seasons, one of each design.
Flowers and seasons match differently
The four flowers are all different pictures, and any flower matches any other flower. The same goes for the four seasons. Every other tile matches only an identical face.
That makes them unusually flexible and unusually easy to waste. If two flowers are free and one of them is sitting on a deep stack, take the pair that opens the board rather than the pair that is convenient.
Why the layout has three layers
The pyramid used here stacks 80 tiles on the bottom, 48 in the middle and 16 on top. Each layer is centred on the one below, so the tiles in the middle of the lower layers are covered and the work starts at the top.
Play a game
Reading about a game is practice for playing it and nothing more. The board is open, it is free, and nothing needs installing.
Common questions
- How many tiles are in Mahjong Solitaire?
- 144, arranged here as a three layer pyramid of 80, 48 and 16.
- Can any flower match any flower?
- Yes. The four flowers all match each other, and the four seasons all match each other, even though the pictures differ.
- Why are there four of most tiles?
- Because the set comes from the four player game of Mahjong, where four copies of each tile are needed. Solitaire reuses the same set.
More on Mahjong Solitaire
How to win at Mahjong Solitaire
Every board here is solvable, so losing is a choice you made forty moves ago. The order to clear tiles in, and the habits that keep a board open.
Which tiles are free
A tile can be matched when nothing sits on top of it and one long side is clear. How the rule works on a stacked board, and the shapes that trip people up.
Solitaire and the real thing
One is a four player gambling game from 19th century China. The other is a one player tile matching puzzle from a 1980s computer. Same tiles, different games.
This site is built around Xiangqi, Chinese chess. If you enjoy Mahjong Solitaire, the rules of Xiangqi take about five minutes, and there is always somebody to play.