Mahjong Escape™
Ancient Proverb: A smile (or maybe even playing mahjong) will gain you ten more years of life!
Mahjong Solitaire History & General Rules
History:
Mahjong solitaire, also known as, mah-jong, mahjongg, Shanghai, Taipei, MahJong solitaire, and solitaire Mahjong, is a solitaire matching game that uses a set of Mahjong tiles rather than cards. Computer Mahjong is taking many different forms but the game remains a favorite of those looking for a way to escape and relax!
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Basic Rules:
The goal is to remove all the tiles from the layout by matching pairs of "Free" tiles. The 144 tiles are arranged in unique layouts with their tile faces upwards. A "Free" tile is a tile that has no tile to the left or right of it and no tiles on top of it. Available tile pairs are identical "free" tiles (Flower & Season tiles are an exception, any Flower tile can be matched with any other Flower tile, and the same with the Season tiles) are removed from the layout one pair at a time. The game is finished when either the layout is cleared (won), or there are no exposed pairs remaining (try again).
Tiles making up a traditional 144 tile layout:
• 36 Circle tiles (4 of each: 1 - 9)
• 36 Bamboo tiles (4 of each: 1 - 9)
• 36 Number tiles (4 of each: 1 - 9)
• 16 Wind tiles (4 of each: North, East, South, West)
• 12 Dragon tiles (4 of each: blue dragon, red dragon, green dragon)
• 4 Flower tiles (1 each: Orchid, Plum, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum)
• 4 Season tiles (1 each: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring)
In solitaire mahjongg Flowers and Seasons are important because they are the only non-identical tiles that match and occur only one time in a traditional 144 tile layout.
Game Strategy:
When removing a pair of tiles, remember that an identical pair exists in the layout (because there are 4 of each tile in most cases, except with Flowers and Seasons where there is only one of each tile) choose the free pairs wisely and try to remove tiles that free up the most tiles or help you get to specific tiles required for other key matches.
It is valuable to focus on removing tiles from long rows and tall stacks to free more tiles. And generally try to plan ahead as many moves as you can. If all four of any given tile are free, remove both pairs to unclutter the layout.
Beware of triples (three matching free tiles); choose carefully which pair you remove and leave the tile that's blocking fewer important tiles. Concentrate on removing pairs that will free up the most strategic tiles.
Remember, Mahjong is a game of relaxation (and escaping the everyday) so take your time and enjoy the experience each layout brings. You will improve with practice.
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