What is Mahjong Solitaire?
Mahjong Solitaire is the quiet, one-player tile game you have probably seen on computers for decades. It looks like a little pile of stone tiles, and your job is to take it apart, two matching tiles at a time.
The basic idea
You start with 144 mahjong tiles arranged in a stack, most famously the Turtle layout. Your goal is simple: find two tiles that match, are not covered by any tile, and have an open side, then remove that pair. Repeat until the whole stack is gone. Clear every tile and you win.
Why it looks 3D
The tiles are built up in layers, so higher tiles sit on top of lower ones. That stacking is the whole puzzle. A tile you want might be trapped under another tile or wedged between two neighbors, so you have to peel the pile apart in the right order to reach it.
It is not the same as Mahjong
This game uses the pretty tiles from the classic Chinese game Mahjong, but it is a totally different game. Real Mahjong is a four-player game a bit like the card game rummy. Mahjong Solitaire is a solo matching puzzle, invented for computers. You can read more in is Mahjong Solitaire the same as Mahjong?
Related questions
How do you play Mahjong Solitaire?
You play by removing matching pairs of free tiles from the layout. A tile is free when no tile sits on top of it and either its left or right side is open. Click one free tile, then click its match to remove both. Keep going until every tile is cleared.
Is Mahjong Solitaire the same as Mahjong?
No, they are different games that share the same tiles. Mahjong Solitaire is a single-player puzzle where you remove matching pairs from a stack. Traditional Mahjong is a four-player game, closer to the card game rummy, where players draw and discard tiles to build a winning hand.
What is the Turtle layout?
The Turtle is the classic Mahjong Solitaire layout, the one most people picture when they think of the game. Its 144 tiles are stacked into a shape like a turtle shell, five layers tall at the center and thinning out at the edges, with two extra tiles poking out like a head and tail.
How many tiles are in a mahjong set?
A standard mahjong set has 144 tiles, which is exactly 72 matching pairs in Mahjong Solitaire. That total breaks down into 108 suit tiles, 16 Wind tiles, 12 Dragon tiles, and 8 bonus tiles (4 Flowers and 4 Seasons).