Mahjong Solitaire Online — Free Turtle Board, Always Solvable

What is Mahjong Solitaire?

Mahjong solitaire is a matching game, not the four-player table game: 144 tiles are stacked in the famous turtle shape and you remove them two at a time. A tile is free when nothing sits on top of it and at least one long side is open; tap two free tiles with the same face and they vanish. Dots, bamboos, characters, the four winds and three dragons each come in sets of four, while the flowers and seasons match within their group.

The difference here is in the dealing. Most mahjong apps scatter tiles at random and let you discover an impossible board twenty moves in. This one builds every board by un-playing a solution backwards, so the daily turtle and every random board can always be cleared from the start — no shuffle needed if you play well. Hint, Undo and Shuffle are there for when you would rather not.

The 144-tile set

The turtle layout

The classic layout stacks 144 tiles in five layers: 87 on the table (including the three single tiles at the head and tail), a 6×6 block of 36 on top, then 16, then 4, then one tile on the very top. Tiles on the ends of rows and on the upper layers are free first; the middle of the bottom layer comes free last. The smaller Garden layout (72 tiles in two layers) is quicker and suits a phone held upright.

Why every board here is solvable

The board is dealt by playing a game backwards: starting from an empty table, pairs of identical tiles are placed one pair at a time, each in a spot where both tiles would be free to remove. Reversing that order is a complete solution, so the opening position can always be cleared — the puzzle is to find an order, not to hope the deal was fair.

🃏 Next: Solitaire

Game setup

How to play Mahjong Solitaire

1. Open Today's board (the turtle) or Random board; choose Turtle (144) or Garden (72).
2. A tile is free when nothing sits on it and its left or right side is open. Blocked tiles look dimmer.
3. Tap a free tile, then its match. Flowers match any flower, seasons any season.
4. Hint shows a pair, Undo takes a move back, Shuffle rearranges what is left. Clear every tile to win.

What the screen does for you

Mahjong Solitaire on AllPartyGames.com is the referee, not the whole game: it gives the host Every board generated solvable, Daily turtle shared by everyone, Two layouts, Hint, Undo, Shuffle, Pairs-available counter, Fullscreen plays sideways on phones. Tap the ? button inside the game for these rules at any time, or 📺 for TV mode on a big screen.

How many players?

Mahjong Solitaire works with 1 player and a typical round takes about 5–20 min. Recommended age: 8+.

Best occasions

Variations

• 🧱 Tile Match
• 🃏 Solitaire
• 🧠 Memory Match

Tips

• Clear the top of the pile and the long rows first — tiles that block many others are worth more than easy pairs at the edges.
• When all four of a face are free, take both pairs; when only three are, think about which two to take.
• Before using a hint, count the free tiles: the number of pairs available right now is shown under the board.

Mahjong Solitaire FAQ