Mahjong: Turtle
How to play Mahjong Turtle
Mahjong solitaire is a tile-matching puzzle for one player in which you clear a stacked layout of mahjong tiles by removing free tiles in matching pairs.
The classic shape: 144 tiles in five layers, with a head and a tail.
144 tiles, 5 layers
About Mahjong Turtle
The Turtle's floor is eight rows of 8 to 12 tiles. One head tile sits at the left end and two tail tiles at the right, set half a row down between the two middle rows, so those rows start blocked at both ends. Above the middle rise squares of 6 by 6, 4 by 4 and 2 by 2, with one last tile lying across the centre of the 2 by 2.
At the start 35 tiles are free. The top tile rests on all four tiles of the 2 by 2, so taking it frees four at once. The head and the outer tail tile are free from the first move, and they hold the ends of the two longest rows, 15 tiles from head to tail, so take them as soon as you have partners for them.
The goal of Mahjong
Mahjong solitaire is a tile-matching puzzle for one player, not the four-player game. Clear the board by removing its tiles in matching pairs; you win when no tile is left.
How to set up Mahjong
A full set has 144 tiles: bamboo, characters and dots from 1 to 9, four winds and three dragons, four of each, plus four flowers and four seasons. Some layouts use fewer tiles. A new board is dealt at random and may be impossible to clear, unless you turn on Winnable under New game. Even a winnable board can be lost by matching the wrong pairs.
Mahjong rules
Select two free tiles that match and both leave the board. Tiles match when they show the same face, but any flower matches any flower and any season matches any season.
A tile is free when nothing lies on top of it, even partly, and its left or right side is not touching another tile on the same layer. Only the left and right sides count. You can have free tiles highlighted in the settings.
Hint shows a pair to take, chosen to keep the board winnable when a winning line can be found. Undo takes back a match, and Restart deals the same board again. There is no reshuffle: if tiles remain but no free pair matches, you are stuck and can undo, restart or start a new game.
Mahjong strategy tips
Work on the tiles that free the most others: the tops of tall stacks and the ends of long rows.
When three tiles of a face are free, think before matching: the one you leave behind may be sitting on the fourth.
When all four tiles of a face are free, you can safely clear both pairs.
When two tiles of the same face lie one on top of the other, they can never be matched together. Each needs one of the other two copies, so do not pair those two copies with each other.
Mahjong questions and answers
Do flowers and seasons match in Mahjong solitaire?
Yes, within their own group: any flower matches any other flower and any season matches any other season, but a flower never matches a season. Every other tile needs an identical partner, such as the same suit and number, the same wind or the same dragon. A full set has one each of four flowers and four seasons.
Is every Mahjong solitaire game winnable?
No. By default a new board is dealt at random and may have no solution at all. Turn on Winnable under New game and the next board is dealt from a solution the game has already played through. Even then, matching the wrong pairs can leave you stuck, and Undo is there to take them back.
What happens when you run out of moves in Mahjong solitaire?
The game tells you there are no moves left and offers a new game or the same board again. There is no reshuffle and no extra lives. Undo still works, so you can take matches back one at a time and try another pair from an earlier position.
How does the hint work in Mahjong solitaire?
Hint shows a pair of free, matching tiles. It looks for a complete winning line from where you are and shows its first move, so following it keeps the board winnable. If no line turns up, it prefers the pair that frees the most tiles. Pressing Hint again steps through the other matches on the board.
Which Mahjong solitaire layout is the easiest?
The site does not rank its layouts, but Seven is the most open: 84 of its 144 tiles are free at the start, on just two layers. Hourglass follows with 48 of 102. The tightest start is Seven Pyramids, where only its seven peak tiles are free, and The Great Wall is the one layout where no tile is ever hidden.
How many tiles are in each Mahjong solitaire layout?
Nine of the 17 layouts use the full set of 144 tiles. The others use fewer, down to 68 for Scales of Justice. A smaller layout is dealt a random selection of the 72 pairs, so a face may appear four times, twice or not at all, and a board may hold four, two or no flowers.