Tricks to successfully completing Mahjongg Solitaire

[AARPLynne]

There are few tips that can help you solve a puzzle and avoid ending up in unsolvable situation:

1. The general strategy is to keep removing matching tiles so that each removal opens up more possibilities for future tile matching. If you have a pair that does not open anything, leave it until you need it.
2. Don't forget that you should open up new tiles with every matched pair. Choosing obvious pairs every time, such as those from the top levels, will often result in a loss by leaving more tiles uncovered.
3. In certain situations, obtaining matching tiles can be either impossible or highly unlikely. The key is to avoid getting into positions where this is likely to happen. Concentrate on matching tiles on horizontal lines, as these are usually more difficult to remove.
4. When you have 3 or more identical tiles free and matchable, match the pair that will free additional tiles. Matching the wrong pair can lead to unsolvable situations later.
5. It is imperative to react fast. Fast reaction means making the correct decision given the current situation as the result of previous decisions. You will be required to imagine your movements several steps ahead. The game might look playable now, but if you don’t look ahead and you make the wrong move, then the game could end with no solutions.
6. Some of the Mahjong characters on the tiles look quite similar, especially when you must quickly scan many tiles over and over. It is important to be able to distinguish all the tiles correctly and memorize where you last saw a certain piece.

All these tips may look intimidating the first time you play Mahjong solitaire, but don’t worry! This game actually is pretty easy to learn, but difficult to master. You will learn everything eventually, leading to less and less unsolvable situations after each successful game.

[Garrij01]

Do you know the different points associated with the tiles?  Are the "special" characters worth more points?

Thank you!

Janet Garritano, Indianapolis

[ms5532088]

Hi if you click on the pause symbol you were see a set of instructions indicating which tiles removed in succession are worth more. For example the blue and/or green tiles remove in succession are worth more than any other tile succession. Also, the timing is important. The earlier the better.

[CarolT752253]

Yes, thank you! I’ve upped my score into the 80,000 range and I’ve even made the leaderboard a few times if I play at 9:00pm PST when the leaderboard restarts and scores are lower😉. I’m wondering if the high scorers look at a board and trash it before playing if they don’t see it set up for lots of points like all 4 green/ blue tiles easily accessible. I play every game that comes up but may start to be more discerning if it doesn’t look playable for lots of points. Doesn’t look like we are penalized for not playing a board like in Solitaire.

[CarolT752253]

Yes I would also like more information on how to gain more points. even when I completely solve the puzzle I never get above 60,000 points. How are people getting double that amount of points?

[SuzanneC518698]

Note this added information not mentioned above!  It explains sound effects (like WOO- OO) that were happening occasionally for me.  A new wrinkle in my strategy for playing.