Mahjong Solitaire Cheat Sheet — Free Tiles, Matching Rules and the Four Buttons
A one-page reference for mahjong solitaire: which tiles pair, exactly when a tile is free, what New Game, Hint, Shuffle and Undo each do, and the five mistakes that lose most games. Printable.
Everything you need while a board is open, on one page. No history, no tile meanings — just the rules you actually have to apply move by move.
The objective, in one line
Remove every tile from the board two at a time. You lose by running out of legal moves, not by running out of time — there is no clock unless you start one yourself.
Which tiles match
| Tiles | Match? |
|---|---|
| Two identical faces (3 Bamboo + 3 Bamboo) | Yes |
| Same rank, different suit (3 Bamboo + 3 Dots) | No |
| Neighbouring ranks, same suit (3 Bamboo + 4 Bamboo) | No |
| North Wind + North Wind | Yes |
| Red Dragon + Green Dragon | No |
| Any flower + any flower | Yes |
| Any season + any season | Yes |
| Flower + season | No |
The seven suited, wind and dragon groups match only their exact twin. The bonus group is the exception: flowers pair with flowers and seasons with seasons, whatever the picture shows.
When a tile is free
A tile can only be removed if both of these are true:
- Nothing is stacked on top of it. Any tile overlapping it from a higher layer blocks it completely, even if the overlap is partial.
- Its left side or its right side is open, at its own layer. One open side is enough — you do not need both.
A tile with neighbours on both sides is locked even with nothing above it. So the ends of rows and the outer corners are where the playable tiles are, and the middle of a long row is where games are lost.
If you tap a tile and it shakes, the tile is blocked. That is the game telling you so, not a missed click.
The four buttons
| Button | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| New Game | Deals a fresh board on the same layout | When you want a different board, not a rescue |
| Hint | Flashes a pair that is available right now | Only when you are genuinely stuck — every hint is a pair you did not find |
| Shuffle | Re-deals the faces of the tiles still on the board, positions unchanged | As a last resort. It guarantees a new legal pair exists, but not that the board can still be cleared |
| Undo | Takes back your last pair, all the way to the start of the game | Freely. There is no undo limit here, so a misclick costs nothing |
One behaviour worth knowing: if no legal pair is left, the board shuffles itself and says so. That is neither a loss nor a bug — it is the standard fix for a board that died from removal order rather than bad luck.
The order to play in
- Work the top layer first, then the outer edges.
- Finish a full row before starting the one below it.
- When four identical tiles are free, take the pair sitting on top of something you need, not the pair that is easiest to reach.
- Save the bonus tiles for last. Because any flower pairs with any flower, they are a free move you can spend whenever the board tightens.
- If you see no good move, undo two or three pairs before you shuffle. The pair you needed is usually underneath the one you just took.
The five mistakes that lose games
| Mistake | What it costs you |
|---|---|
| Taking the easiest pair instead of the unblocking pair | Buries the tile you needed for the last two pairs |
| Spending flowers and seasons early | Throws away the only flexible moves on the board |
| Ignoring the middle of long rows | Those tiles decide the endgame, and by then they are unreachable |
| Shuffling the moment you get stuck | Shuffling changes faces, not the stack — the block is still there |
| Never undoing | One wrong pair early is often the whole game, and undo is unlimited |
Layouts change the difficulty more than the tiles do
- Turtle — 144 tiles in five layers, the classic. Most free tiles at any moment, so the most forgiving place to learn.
- Pyramid — 120 tiles in four layers. Squat and centred, with a heavily blocked middle, so the sides matter more than usual.
- Tower — 76 tiles in five layers. Narrow and tall, very few free tiles at once, and a wrong removal is punished hardest.
All three are generated from a solved state backwards, so every board you are dealt is winnable. When you lose, you lost it — the tiles were clearable.
Citing this sheet
Free to reuse with attribution:
MahjongBreak — Mahjong Solitaire Cheat Sheet: Free Tiles, Matching Rules and the Four Buttons
https://mahjongbreak.com/guide/mahjong-solitaire-cheat-sheet/Source: <a href="https://mahjongbreak.com/guide/mahjong-solitaire-cheat-sheet/">Mahjong Solitaire Cheat Sheet</a>, MahjongBreakFrequently asked questions
Can I undo more than once?
Yes. Undo works all the way back to the first pair, with no limit, on every layout.
Does shuffling make a board unwinnable?
No — but it does not guarantee you can still finish either. Shuffle re-deals the remaining faces into an arrangement that contains at least one legal pair; if you keep choosing badly afterwards, you can still strand the board. Undo is the stronger tool.
What happens when I run out of moves?
The board shuffles itself automatically and tells you. You do not lose, and nothing is subtracted from your game.
Do flowers have to match seasons?
No. Any flower pairs with any flower and any season with any season. A flower never pairs with a season.
Is every board winnable?
On this site, yes. The deal is generated by working backwards from an empty board, pairing tiles in a legal removal order, so at least one winning order always exists.
Is there a time limit?
No. The timer is there so you can race your own best time on the same layout, nothing else.
Play it yourself
Related guides
- How to Play Mahjong Solitaire — Rules, Free Tiles and LayoutsA plain-English walkthrough of mahjong solitaire: which tiles match, what "free" actually means, how the Turtle, Tower and Pyramid layouts differ, and the four buttons you get.
- Mahjong Solitaire Layouts Compared — Turtle, Pyramid and TowerExact tile counts and layer structure for all three layouts: turtle 144 tiles in 5 layers, pyramid 120 in 4, tower 76 in 5 — and why the smallest board is the hardest.
- Mahjong Solitaire Strategy — Why You Lose Boards You Could Have WonThe five habits that decide most mahjong solitaire games: clearing long rows first, holding bonus tiles in reserve, reading four-of-a-kind, and using undo instead of shuffle.
- American Mah Jongg Rules — How It Differs from Chinese and Japanese MahjongThe four rules that make American mah jongg a different game: 152 tiles with jokers, no sequences, a card that defines legal hands, and the Charleston pass before play begins.
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