How to play
- Tap two identical tiles to remove them. You can only pick a tile that is free: nothing lies on top of it, and its left or right side is open.
- Any flower tile matches any other flower, and any season matches any season.
- Moves shows how many matching pairs you can take right now. Hint highlights one of them.
- If no moves are left, Shuffle rearranges the remaining tiles into a new layout that can still be solved. Undo takes back a pair or a shuffle.
- Show free tiles darkens the tiles you can’t pick yet. Turn it off for a harder game.
Layouts
Turtle is the classic 144-tile pyramid in five layers. Daily deal uses the Turtle with the same tiles for everyone each day. Pyramid (100 tiles) and Quick (36 tiles) are narrower, so the tiles stay large on a phone.
Is every game solvable?
Yes. Each deal is built backwards: the computer removes random free pairs from a full layout and assigns matching tiles to them, so at least one winning order always exists. You can still get stuck if you take pairs in an unlucky order, which is what Undo and Shuffle are for.
Tips
- Free the big stacks first. Tiles in the middle are buried under several layers, so pairs that uncover them are usually worth more than easy pairs on the edges.
- Open up long rows. A row only opens from its ends. Removing an end tile frees the next one in line.
- Take all four at once. When all four tiles of a kind are free, remove both pairs – they can’t block anything any more.
- Choose carefully when three are free. If three matching tiles are free, take the two whose removal uncovers more tiles.
- Look before you match. If one tile of a kind is buried under its own partner, clear that stack early.
FAQ
Is this the same as real mahjong?
No. It uses the same tiles, but it is a one-player matching game. It started on computers in the early 1980s and became famous as Shanghai. Four-player mahjong is a completely different game.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes. On a small screen the game starts with the Pyramid layout so the tiles are big enough to tap. You can switch to the Turtle any time.