Mahjongg Solitaire

Mahjongg Solitaire online is the famous chinese puzzle game. It's fast, challenging - and best of all: Mahjongg Solitaire is free. Enjoy!

Mahjongg Solitaire, also called Taipei or Shanghai, is the web adaptation of an old chinese board game. The objective is to remove all 144 tiles from the board; for each pair of tiles removed you will get two points.

The rules are simple: Starting from the sides, or from the central tile at the top of the pile, remove tiles by clicking on two equal symbols. If the tiles are identical, they will disappear, and your score will rise. Removeable tiles always must be free on their left or right side. If a tile sits between two tiles on the same level, it cannot be selected. Note: The four tiles showing season symbols or queens (above, left) match even if they are different; the four flower or king tiles (above, right) match respectively.

Options:

New: sets up a new game.
Tileset: sets up a new game using a different tileset.
Layout: sets up a new game using a different layout.
Restart: restarts the current game.
Undo: withdraws your moves one by one.
Moves: displays the number of currently possible moves.
Hints: shows currently possible moves one by one.
Zoom: zooms the game in or out.
Help: displays the rules of the game.
FAQ: gives answers to frequently asked questions.
Info: displays game information and version history.
Email: sends an email to the author.

Frequently asked questions:

Does Mahjongg Solitaire cost money? No. Playing Mahjongg Solitaire is free.
Can every game be won? No. The games are set up at random, which means that not every game can be finished. Mahjongg Solitaire remains a true challenge.
Can I download the game? No. Mahjongg Solitaire is no commercial software but a free online gaming offer.
Every time I click the tiles disappear and slowly reappear one by one. Is there something wrong with the game? No. The problem is caused by your (non-default) web browser settings. If you are using the Microsoft Internet Explorer, click 'Extras', 'Internet options', 'Temporary internet files', 'Settings...'. Make sure that you have the 'Automatic' option checked in order to prevent your computer from re-reading all the images after every click.
Do I have to stay online in order to play Mahjongg Solitaire? No. When the game has fully loaded, you may safely close your internet connection and continue playing as long as you like.

In mathematical terms, Mahjongg Solitaire is easily described. There are 144!/(4!)³⁶ different games, the probability that you will encounter the same game twice is 1/1.1394912*10²⁰⁰. As to the classic layout, the number of games that actually can be won cannot be calculated, yet experts estimate that good players win every third up to every second game.

This web version of Mahjongg Solitaire consists of only two files coded in dynamic HTML. In addition, images are used for the tiles, buttons and game background. To play the game no plugins are needed. There are no special system requirements, except for a DHTML compatible browser. If the javascript option is enabled, just click and play.

The idea for this game came from the www.the5k.org competition held between 2000 and 2002, the objective of which it was to encourage lean, efficient, functional, original and aesthetic web programming. A less than 5kb version of Mahjongg Solitaire took part in the 2002 contest.

Version history:

2002, Jun 6: Mahjongg Solitaire v1.0, submission to www.the5k.org
2002, Sep 26: v2.3, upload to the web
2002, Oct 10: v2.4, including unlimited undo and restart options
2002, Nov 1: v2.5, including moves and hints options
2003, Apr 1: One million visitors
2004, Apr 7: v2.6, including alternate tileset and zoom option
2004, Jun 12: v2.7, including additional layouts option
2004, Jul 27: Five million visitors
2004, Nov 14: v2.71, improved data preload
2004, Nov 30: v2.72, including FAQ
2004, Dec 12: v2.73, improved 3D display
2005, Aug 25: v2.74, favicon added
2005, Sep 6: Seven million visitors
2005, Oct 23: v2.8, including new layout
2005, Dec 18: v2.9, including new layout
2005, Feb 4: v3.0, including new layout