Mahjong Cloud Steps

What is mahjong solitaire?

Mahjong solitaire uses the tiles of the old Chinese game of mahjong, but you play it alone, and the goal is simple: clear the board two tiles at a time. The tiles sit in a stacked pile, and only the tiles on the outside of the pile can be taken. The puzzle is in choosing which pairs to take first so you don't bury the tiles you'll need later.

Mahjong Cloud Steps is free, runs in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, and doesn't need a download or an account.

How to play

• Tap a free tile, then tap a matching free tile. The pair flies together and clears.
• A tile is free when nothing sits on top of it and its left side or its right side is open. Up and down don't matter.
• Blocked tiles are shaded darker, so the bright tiles are the ones you can play.
• When a match sets new tiles free, they shine for a moment, so you can see what just opened up.
• Tiles match when they are exactly the same, with two exceptions: any flower matches any flower, and any season matches any season.
• Clear every tile to finish the board.

The tiles

There are three suits numbered 1 to 9 (dots, bamboo and characters), four winds, three dragons, four flowers and four seasons. Every suited tile shows its number, so you never have to tell tiles apart by color alone. A full board uses all 144 tiles. Our early boards are much smaller, from 20 tiles, and they grow as you climb.

The holding tray

Above the board is a tray with 4 slots. Pick a free tile and tap the tray to park it there. That lifts it off the board so you can see what was under it, and a parked tile can still match any free tile of its kind, or another tile in the tray. The tray is a helper you can ignore. If you like the game the old way, switch off Holding tray in the settings and it goes away.

Picture tiles

Some levels hide a pair of golden picture tiles. Each one only matches its twin, and clearing the pair does something nice:

Controls (phone and computer)

On a phone or tablet, just tap. Want bigger tiles? Tap the menu button and pick Bigger tiles, or turn on Large tiles in the settings, and big boards zoom in so the tiles stay large; drag to look around or pinch to zoom. With a mouse, click. The keyboard works too:

Hint, Shuffle and Undo are free

All three helpers are free and unlimited. Nothing is sold, and there are no lives or energy to wait for.

• Hint shows a pair that keeps the board winnable, and tells you why it's a good pick, for example that it sets 3 tiles free or that another tile of the same kind is buried under it. The game checks that a full clear is still possible after it. If your earlier moves have made a full clear impossible, it says so and points you to Undo or Shuffle.
• Shuffle mixes the faces of the tiles still on the board. The tiles don't move, and the shuffled board can always be cleared. If you have tiles in the tray, their partners come up on top so the tray can empty right away.
• Undo takes back your last move, as many times as you like.

If you run out of matches, the game tells you and offers Shuffle or Undo. You never hit a dead end.

Every board can be won

Lots of mahjong games deal the tiles at random, and some of those deals can't be cleared at all. We build each board by playing it backward: the game picks two tiles that would be free, gives them the same face, lifts them off, and repeats until the board is empty. So every deal comes with a real way to clear it.

We tested it hard: 2,000 deals for each of our 104 board shapes, checked by a separate solver, plus nearly 29,000 half played boards mixed with Shuffle. You can still make a board harder by taking the wrong pair, which is the fun of it, but Undo and Shuffle always bring it back.

Stars, par times and unlocks

Each level gives up to 3 stars:

• 1 star for clearing the board.
• 1 star for clearing it without using a hint.
• 1 star for beating the par time shown before the level.

Par times grow with the board, from about a minute on the first 20 tile boards to a little over 5 minutes on the 144 tile summit. A level always deals the same way, so a replay is a fair shot at a faster time. Undo and Shuffle never cost a star.

Stars unlock tile styles and scenery: jade tiles at 12 stars, night tiles at 45, blue porcelain at 60 and gold leaf at 150, with more scenery opening as you climb. Two sets come from other places: plum blossom tiles open after you finish all three daily goals on 3 days, and red lacquer tiles after 2 weekly seals. Large print and high contrast tiles are never locked, so you can switch to them from the very first level.

Score and streaks

A match is worth 10 points times your flow. Match again within about four seconds and your flow climbs, up to x5, with rising chimes and a bar that fills above the board. Picture pairs add 50. Finishing adds 200, plus 100 if you used no hints, plus 2 points for every second under par.

The six worlds

You climb a mountain path from the bottom to the top, 12 levels per world:

Levels 5 and 9 of each world are smaller breather boards. A new world opens when you clear the last level of the one before it.

Daily board, weekly board and other modes

The Daily board is the same layout and the same deal for everyone each day (it changes at midnight UTC). Your first clear of the day posts your score to the daily leaderboard. Replays are fine, but only the first clear counts. There is also an all time board for total stars.

The Weekly board is a picture layout that stays for a whole week, from Monday to Sunday: a crane, a folding fan, a moon gate, a lotus, a pagoda and more. Clear it once in its week to earn a seal.

Daily goals are three small tasks that change every day, like making 40 matches, reaching flow x4 or clearing a board with no hints. Any mode counts. Finish all three and the day gets a tea stamp on your week strip. Missing a day never takes a stamp away.

Incense race is our timed mode. You get a board from the part of the climb you've opened and one stick of incense. Every match adds a little time, and a quick flow adds more. If the incense burns out, you can still finish the board calmly with no clock.

Zen garden is for relaxing: no clock, no score, just a fresh board whenever you want one.

Tips and strategy

• Look before you tap. If three tiles of a kind are free, take the two that uncover the most tiles, and leave the one that blocks nothing.
• When all four tiles of a kind are free, take both pairs. That is always safe.
• Work on tall stacks and long rows early. A tile buried under three layers is the one that traps you at the end.
• Be careful with a pair that sits on top of its own twin. You can't take both until one is lifted away, and the tray is perfect for that.
• Use the tray for digging, not for storage. A tray full of tiles with no partners in sight leaves you nowhere to go.
• Going for the time star? Play the level once at your own pace, then replay it. The deal is the same, so you'll know where the tricky spots are.

Want more? Our longer article on how to win at mahjong solitaire walks through reading a board, triples and buried pairs.

Questions