Mahjong Games

Most mahjong games online are tile-matching puzzles. Mahjong solitaire stacks the tiles into a layout and asks you to clear it by removing identical pairs, but only tiles that are free can be picked. Mahjong Cubes 3D builds that puzzle in 3D: every cube shows one tile on all six sides, and you turn the block to find free pairs before the clock runs out.

The other kind is the table game mahjong tiles were made for: three or four players draw and discard until someone completes a hand. It looks complicated from the outside, but the rule for a complete hand is short enough to write on one line.

m x AAA + n x ABC + DD, with m + n = 4. AAA is three of a kind (a pong; a kong of four counts as one). ABC is a run of three consecutive numbers in one suit, like 4-5-6 Dots. DD is the pair, exactly one per hand. Hold four sets of either kind plus a pair and you have won. The one exception is seven pairs: 7 x DD. A hand is ready when it is one tile short of the formula, and the tiles that would finish it are its waits.

That formula is what our original games are built around. Power-Up Mahjong is the full three-player match, with Swap, Shield and Double Draw power-ups and plain points instead of money, and Which Tile Wins? Mahjong Puzzles drills the formula directly: each level shows a ready hand and you pick every tile that completes it. Riichi Endgames: Riichi Mahjong Puzzles takes the same idea to Japanese riichi mahjong, where the question becomes which tile to throw: the discard that leaves the most live winning tiles, or the one tile that is 100% safe after an opponent declares riichi.

Turn the block before you commit to a pair, because a match you cannot see from the front is often waiting on the back face. A cube is free when two touching sides are open, so clearing a row along an edge can open a whole layer underneath. When there are several copies of a tile, take the one that blocks the most other cubes first. Keep a steady rhythm, since quick pairs in a row build a combo, and save hints for the last third of a big block, where the remaining tiles are hardest to find.

Mahjong Cubes 3D is 3D mahjong solitaire: turn a block of tile cubes, match free pairs and peel it down to the core. Mahjong Quest is a classic mahjong solitaire with goals, medals and tools. When you are ready for the real thing, start with Which Tile Wins? Mahjong Puzzles, where each level shows a ready hand and you pick every tile that completes it, and then sit down at Power-Up Mahjong against two tiger bots or with friends in a room. If you already play riichi mahjong, Riichi Endgames: Riichi Mahjong Puzzles is attack and defense practice with a daily puzzle.