Mahjong Pairs: mahjong solitaire with 120 solvable boards
Mahjong Pairs is our mahjong solitaire: a stacked layout of tiles that you clear by matching identical pairs, as long as both tiles are free. The boards take shapes like a turtle, a castle, a butterfly or a pagoda, and grow from small single layers to stacks of up to 144 tiles. Every deal is built so that it can be cleared.
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- Memory
- Attention & focus
- Matching games
- Classic games
How to play
- Look for bright tiles: a tile is free when nothing lies on top of it and its left or right side is open.
- Tap two free tiles with the same face to remove them.
- Use Hint to light up a pair, Undo to take back your last pair, and Shuffle to re-deal the remaining tiles when no pair is left.
- Clear every tile to finish the level and earn up to three stars.
What it exercises
A slow, quiet tile matching game, but the best players look a few pairs ahead.
Visual memory
Remembering where you saw the partner of a tile, even while it is still blocked, saves a lot of searching later.
Attention to detail
Classic suits differ by small marks: the number of dots, the count of bamboo sticks, the numeral on a character tile.
Planning
From level 7 there are four copies of each face, and choosing which two to pair first decides whether a buried tile can still be freed.
Tips
- Work from the ends of long rows and from the tops of tall stacks; those are the tiles that unlock the most.
- When three or four copies of a face are free, pair the ones that are covering something else.
- Flowers match any flower and seasons match any season, so treat them as wild cards for clearing awkward spots.
- The bonus timer never ends a level. Beating it only adds the third star, so feel free to take your time.
- Avoid Shuffle when you can: a board cleared without it earns at least two stars.
- On big boards, pinch or use the zoom buttons. On a keyboard, arrows move between free tiles, Enter picks, and H, U and S trigger the tools.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play mahjong solitaire online for free?
Yes. Mahjong Pairs, a matching pairs game with classic mahjong tiles, is free in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with no download and no ads between levels.
What are the mahjong solitaire rules?
Remove matching pairs of free tiles. A tile is free when no tile covers it and at least one of its long sides, left or right, is open. The game ends when the board is empty.
Is every mahjong board solvable?
Every board in this game is. Deals are built backwards from an empty table, so a full solution always exists, and a shuffle re-deals the remaining tiles the same way.
Is there a mahjong game with picture tiles?
Levels 1 to 10 use fruit and animal tiles, and the Picture tiles option keeps them on every level if you prefer them to the classic symbols.
When do the classic tile suits appear?
Dots arrive at level 11, Bamboo at 14, Characters at 17, Winds and Dragons at 21, and Flowers and Seasons at 25. Each new suit is introduced with a short note.
How many hints and undos do I get?
Each level gives 2 hints, 3 undos and 1 shuffle. Boards with 100 tiles or more give 3 hints, 5 undos and 2 shuffles.
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