Mahjong Solitaire is a game of strategy, memory, and luck. The standard game begins with 144 tiles, arranged in one of many different layouts. The object is to remove all the tiles from the layout, one pair at a time.
The application responds to the following gestures:
If you prefer to access these functions via a menu simply tap the button
To remove a pair, the tiles must both match and be "free" at the same time. A tile is considered free when:
If a tile can only slide toward the top or the bottom of the layout, it is not free to be removed. (In Classic Shanghai, the "prevailing wind" is East-West only.)
To select a tile simply touch it with your finger. If the tile is free it will highlight in red. A tile that is not free will shake from side to side.
Typically tiles are paired when they look exactly the same. The exception to this rule are the special Flower and Season tiles.
Seasons |
Flowers |
Flower and Season tiles are usually non-identical tiles that can be matched with corresponding tiles from their "group". You can match any flower tile with any other flower tile and any season tile with any other season tile. However to cannot match flower tiles with season tiles. It's worthwhile to get to know them before you start a game.
To view an overview of the groups for a given tileset:
Your current game status is displayed at the bottom of the screen. The status row details your current score, number of remaining tiles, windstorm mode and elapsed time. You can tap the clock icon to hide or display the elapsed time.
Shanghai mahjong maintains a score based on how well you've played. Scoring works as follows:
Each tile has a base value ranging from 1 to 7 points. The individual base values are based on the group they belong to. The look of an individual tile group can vary from tileset to tileset so it's worthwhile to study them before you begin a game.
To view the base values for a given tileset:
Windstorm play adds a whole new dimension to Mahjong. Instead of just matching tiles that are free to slide left or right, in Windstorm, tiles are matched according to the prevailing wind. The current direction is shown by the compass at the bottom of the screen:
If the prevailing wind is East-West, tiles can only be matched the regular way: those that can slide right or left.
If the prevailing wind is North-South, tiles can only be matched when they can slide up or down. A whole new strategy for winning the game must be employed when the winds change.
However when all four points of the compass light up there's a windstorm! Tiles that can slide either left, right, up or down can now be matched with each other.
To enable/disable windstorm game play:
Tile Layout— Choose from over 170 different tile layouts. Tap the shuffle option at the top of the resulting list to randomly choose a layout with every new game.
Tileset Art— Choose from the installed tile art on your device and download more from the internet.
Background— Choose from the installed backgrounds on your device and download more from the internet.
Background Opacity— Set the opacity of all backgrounds.
Tile Animation— Specify the tile removal animation.
Windstorm Play— Match tiles just like Shanghai, until the prevailing wind changes. Available tiles then become those that can slide up or down, not right or left. If there’s a windstorm, tiles can be matched that can slide up, down, right, or left.
Sound— Enables/disables game play sound effects.