Mahjong: Seven
How to play Mahjong Seven
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.
Seven tall columns two tiles wide, each with a few tiles lying across it.
144 tiles, 2 layers
About Mahjong Seven
Seven holds 144 tiles in two layers: 126 on the floor in seven columns of 9 rows, and 18 lying across them. The columns stand half a tile apart, so no row is longer than two tiles and no tile is ever blocked from the side. Only a crossing tile can hold a tile back, and 84 tiles are free at the start, the most of any layout here.
Each crossing tile lies across both tiles of a row, and most sit half a row down, covering four floor tiles at once. The middle column carries four crossings, the two beside it three and the outer four columns two each. A match of two open floor tiles frees nothing, so prefer pairs that take a crossing tile, and save partners for the tiles still under one.
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.
The full Mahjong guide, with strategy tips and common questions