All Mahjong Layouts
Every free Mahjong Solitaire layout on Mahjong.now, all playable instantly in your browser - no downloads, no signups, no limits. From the classic Turtle and stepped Pyramid to picture shapes like the Dragon and tough challenge boards, there is a shape here for every mood. Not sure where to start? The Rules hub explains how each one plays, or jump straight into today's daily challenge or a live multiplayer race.
All Mahjong layouts compared
Not sure which to open? This table lines up every layout by how many tiles it uses, how tall it stacks, and how hard it plays.
| Layout | Family | Tiles | Layers | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turtle | Classic Layouts | 144 | 4 | Easy to learn |
| Pyramid | Classic Layouts | 120 | 4 | Moderate |
| Fortress | Classic Layouts | 128 | 3 | Moderate |
| Dragon | Picture Layouts | 144 | 4 | Moderate |
| Butterfly | Picture Layouts | 136 | 3 | Moderate |
| Cat | Picture Layouts | 120 | 3 | Easy to moderate |
| Spider | Picture Layouts | 112 | 3 | Moderate to hard |
| Tower | Challenge Layouts | 112 | 7 | Hard |
| Gate | Challenge Layouts | 128 | 4 | Hard |
| Crab | Challenge Layouts | 128 | 3 | Moderate to hard |
| Cross | Challenge Layouts | 100 | 3 | Hard |
Which Mahjong layout should you play?
Match the board to your mood - here's a quick steer:
Best if you're brand new
Start with the Turtle or the Cat. Both are open and forgiving, keep lots of tiles free, and teach the free-tile rule at the heart of every layout.
Best for a calm, relaxing solve
The Cat, Dragon and Butterfly have rounded, open shapes that rarely run dry of moves, so you can unwind without getting boxed in.
Best for a structured, thinking solve
The Fortress and Gate ask you to dismantle a structure in the right order, rewarding players who think about what is holding up what.
Best if you want a real challenge
The tall Tower and balanced Cross hide more tiles and leave few free at once, so they humble even confident players.
Classic Layouts
The shapes most people picture when they think of Mahjong Solitaire - balanced, symmetric mounds like the Turtle that made the game famous.
Picture Layouts
Boards sculpted into recognizable shapes - a dragon, a butterfly, a cat, a spider - that turn a solve into unwinding a themed picture, tile by tile.
Challenge Layouts
Tall, dense, or tightly balanced boards that hide more tiles and leave fewer free at once, for players who have mastered the free-tile rule.
Ways to Compete
More from Our Network
If matching tiles is your kind of break, you might enjoy our sister sites - same philosophy: free, fast-loading classics with no downloads.
Types of Mahjong Solitaire
"Mahjong" here does not mean the four-player game with draws and discards - it means Mahjong Solitaire, the single-player tile-matching puzzle. Every board uses the same short rulebook (remove matching pairs of free tiles until the table is clear), so what really separates the layouts is their shape. That shape decides how many tiles are free at once, how deeply they hide, and whether a solve feels like a relaxing break or a real test. On Mahjong.now the layouts fall into three families. The classic layouts are the balanced, symmetric mounds the genre is remembered for, led by the Turtle. The picture layouts sculpt the tiles into recognizable shapes - a dragon, a butterfly, a cat - so a solve becomes unwinding a themed image. The challenge layouts stack tall or pack tight, hiding more tiles and leaving fewer free, for players who already read the free-tile rule fluently. Knowing which family a board belongs to tells you almost right away whether it will be a calm five minutes or a puzzle that makes you plan several moves ahead.
Classic Layouts
The classics are the shapes most people picture when they hear "Mahjong Solitaire" - wide, symmetric mounds that balance open edges against a stubborn buried center. They range from the famously friendly Turtle to the tighter Pyramid and the walled Fortress, and they are the best place to learn the free-tile rule.
- Turtle Mahjong - The classic mahjong pyramid - Match free tiles and clear all 144. Turtle Mahjong is the layout that made Mahjong Solitaire famous: a wide, symmetric mound of 144 tiles stacked up to five layers high, said to resemble a turtle's shell. (Easy to learn, 144 tiles, 4 layers.)
- Pyramid Mahjong - A four-sided pyramid of tiles - Only the edges are ever free. Pyramid Mahjong stacks its tiles into a neat four-sided pyramid that rises to a single tile at the peak. (Moderate, 120 tiles, 4 layers.)
- Fortress Mahjong - Thick outer walls guard a stacked keep - Breach it to win. Fortress Mahjong builds its tiles into a walled stronghold: a thick rectangular rampart of stacked tiles surrounding a raised central keep. (Moderate, 128 tiles, 3 layers.)
Picture Layouts
Picture layouts sculpt the tiles into recognizable creatures and forms. They tend to keep more open edges available, so they feel generous, but each hides a themed core - a dragon's spine, a butterfly's body, a spider's shell - that rewards clearing the shape evenly from its edges inward.
- Dragon Mahjong - A long, coiling dragon of tiles - Free its head and tail to win. Dragon Mahjong lays its 144 tiles out as a long, sinuous dragon - a stretched body with a raised head, a tapering tail and stacked ridges running down its spine. (Moderate, 144 tiles, 4 layers.)
- Butterfly Mahjong - Two symmetric wings of tiles - Balance both to clear the board. Butterfly Mahjong spreads its tiles into two broad, mirror-image wings joined by a slim central body. (Moderate, 136 tiles, 3 layers.)
- Cat Mahjong - A curled cat of tiles - Ears, body and tail all in play. Cat Mahjong arranges its tiles into a curled, contented cat - pointed ears, a rounded body, tucked paws and a sweeping tail. (Easy to moderate, 120 tiles, 3 layers.)
- Spider Mahjong - A body and eight radiating legs - Free the legs to reach the core. Spider Mahjong builds a compact central body with eight legs radiating outward, each leg a short run of tiles reaching across the table. (Moderate to hard, 112 tiles, 3 layers.)
Challenge Layouts
Challenge layouts trade openness for height and density. Tall towers, load-bearing gates and balanced crosses leave far fewer tiles free at any moment, so every match has to count. These are the boards to reach for once the friendly layouts feel easy.
- Tower Mahjong - A tall stacked tower - Deep layers, few free tiles, big payoff. Tower Mahjong stacks its tiles up into a tall, narrow tower - far more layers than a classic layout, with a small footprint. (Hard, 112 tiles, 7 layers.)
- Gate Mahjong - A grand arched gateway of tiles - Open the arch to clear it. Gate Mahjong builds a grand ceremonial gateway: two tall pillars of stacked tiles supporting a wide arch across the top, framing an open central passage. (Hard, 128 tiles, 4 layers.)
- Crab Mahjong - A broad shell, claws and legs - Pincers first, then the shell. Crab Mahjong sculpts its tiles into a broad-shelled crab with two big front claws and a fan of side legs. (Moderate to hard, 128 tiles, 3 layers.)
- Cross Mahjong - Four stacked arms meeting at a raised center - Balance to win. Cross Mahjong arranges its tiles into a bold plus-sign: four equal arms of stacked tiles meeting at a raised central hub. (Hard, 100 tiles, 3 layers.)
Which Mahjong layout should I play?
Not sure where to start? Match the board to your mood:
New to Mahjong Solitaire
Begin with the Turtle or the open Cat. Both keep many tiles free at once, teach the free-tile rule, and clear often enough to keep you hooked.
A calm, relaxing solve
Play the Dragon or Butterfly. Their open shapes rarely run dry of moves, so you can unwind without getting boxed in.
A structured, thinking solve
Try the Fortress or Gate. Both are structures you take apart in the right order, so sequence matters more than raw scanning.
The hardest challenge
If you want to be humbled, take on the tall Tower or the balanced Cross - two of the toughest shapes, where a careless early match can strand a buried pair.
Play with a friend
Mahjong Solitaire does not have to be solitary. Jump into online multiplayer and race someone head-to-head on the exact same board, live.
Ready to dig deeper? Our complete rules hub explains every layout above in full - the goal, the legal moves and strategy - and if you would rather test yourself against everyone else, take on today's daily challenge, a single shared board that resets at midnight UTC.
Mahjong layouts FAQ
How many Mahjong layouts are there?
Mahjong Solitaire has been drawn into hundreds of shapes over the years, but a core of a dozen or so make up nearly all real play. Mahjong.now offers 11 of the most loved: Turtle, Pyramid, Fortress, Dragon, Butterfly, Cat, Spider, Tower, Gate, Crab and Cross.
Which Mahjong layout is the easiest?
The Turtle and the Cat are the most forgiving. They are wide and open, keep plenty of tiles free at once, and have no deep buried core, so you almost always have a match to find while you learn.
Which Mahjong layout is the hardest?
The tall, tightly packed layouts are toughest, especially the Tower and the Cross. Height buries more tiles out of sight and tight packing leaves very few free at any moment, so there is less to work with and less room for error.
Are all these Mahjong layouts free?
Yes. Every layout on Mahjong.now is free to play in your browser with no download and no signup, plus a free daily challenge and real-time online multiplayer.