10 Games Like Mahjong to Play Free Online (2026)

The Mahjong Solitaire puzzle most browser players know — the one with the turtle-shaped tile pyramid — began in 1981 as a PLATO computer game by Brodie Lockard and became famous as Activision’s 1986 release Shanghai. Real Chinese Mahjong is a 4-player game closer to gin rummy. This list covers 12 free games like Mahjong that use its two core mechanics: tile-pair matching and layered removal. All free, all instant-play.

Key takeaways

Most “Mahjong” games online are Mahjong Solitaire, a single-player tile-matching puzzle, not the 4-player original.
Mahjong Solitaire and Mahjong Connect are the closest picks; both use the same tile set.
Memory Match and Pyramid Solitaire share the pair-removal idea with cards instead of tiles.
Dominoes is the pick if you want a tile game against an opponent rather than a solo puzzle.
Sudoku, Picross, and Minesweeper fit the same calm, logical headspace.

Games like Mahjong at a glance

Game	Pieces	Core rule	Players
Mahjong Solitaire	144 Mahjong tiles	Remove free matching pairs	Solo
Mahjong Connect	Mahjong tiles, flat grid	Match pairs linked by a path with at most 2 turns	Solo
Memory Match	Face-down cards	Flip and remember pairs	Solo
Pyramid Solitaire	52 cards	Pair exposed cards summing to 13	Solo
Dominoes	Domino tiles	Match ends, empty your hand	You vs CPU
Match 3	Gems	Swap to line up 3 or more	Solo

1. Mahjong Solitaire

144 standard Mahjong tiles arranged in a layered turtle. Remove free pairs (no tile on top, at least one side open) until the board clears. Any flower matches any other flower and any season matches any season, as in most versions. Undo, Hint and Shuffle buttons get you out of a jam. Play Mahjong Solitaire.

2. Mahjong Connect

Same tile set, different rule — match any two identical tiles connectable by a line with at most 2 turns. Faster than classic; great for phones. Our board is a single flat layer of 30 pairs, so nothing is hidden underneath. This connect rule is often credited to the Japanese tile game Shisen-Sho. Play Mahjong Connect.

3. Memory Match

The basic pair-matching mechanic that Mahjong Solitaire layers on top of. Flip two face-down cards at a time and find every matching pair. Easy is a 4×4 board, Medium 4×5 and Hard 6×6. Play Memory Match.

4. Pyramid Solitaire

Cards in a 7-row pyramid; pair uncovered cards that sum to 13 (e.g., 5+8, A+Q). Kings remove themselves. The closest card-game cousin to Mahjong Solitaire’s “clear the stack in pairs” idea. Play Pyramid Solitaire.

5. Dominoes

If what you miss about real Mahjong is drawing tiles and playing against someone, Dominoes is the nearest fit here. Our draw game puts you against a CPU: match a tile to either open end of the line, draw when you can’t play, and empty your hand first. If the game blocks, fewer pips wins. Play Dominoes.

6. Klondike Solitaire

The Windows-default Solitaire. Foundation piles built up by suit; tableau built down by alternating colour. Choose Draw 1 for a gentler game or Draw 3 for the tougher classic. Play Klondike Solitaire.

7. Spider Solitaire

Build descending sequences in one suit; complete K-to-A in suit to clear it. Play with 1, 2 or 4 suits depending on how hard you want it. Play Spider Solitaire.

8. FreeCell

8 columns plus 4 free cells. Move one card at a time (or stacks via the supermove formula). Nearly every deal is solvable with perfect play. Play FreeCell.

9. Match 3

The other big branch of tile matching. Swap adjacent gems to line up three or more; four in a row makes a striped gem and five makes a color bomb. Each level gives you a move budget and a score target. Play Match 3.

10. Sudoku

Different rules, same logical-deduction headspace. Fill the 9×9 grid so every row, column, and box holds 1-9 once. Difficulty runs from Easy up to Inhuman. Play Sudoku.

11. Picross

Logic puzzle with row/column number clues. Like Sudoku for spatial thinkers. Pick a 5×5, 10×10 or 15×15 grid. Play Picross.

12. Minesweeper

Deduce mine positions from numerical hints, flag the mines, and reveal every safe cell. The classic Beginner, Intermediate and Expert boards are all here, and your first click is always safe. Play Minesweeper.

How to choose a game like Mahjong

Pick by the part of Mahjong you enjoy most.

The tiles themselves: Mahjong Solitaire for the layered turtle, Mahjong Connect for a flat board you can read at a glance.
Clearing a board in pairs: Pyramid Solitaire and Memory Match use the same “find two, remove two” loop with cards.
Playing against someone: Dominoes, or our gin rummy if you want the set-building feel of real Mahjong.
Calm logic: Sudoku, Picross, Minesweeper and FreeCell reward careful reading over speed.
Something brighter and faster: Match 3 keeps the tile-matching idea but adds combos and a move limit.

For a wider look at the genre, our explainer on what a tile-matching game is covers how these families differ.

Mahjong Solitaire tips that carry over

A few habits make the tile games on this list go much more smoothly.

Free the long rows first. In Mahjong Solitaire, tiles at the ends of long rows and the tiles on top of the stack block the most other tiles. Clearing them opens up more choices.
Don’t grab the first pair you see. If three or four copies of a tile are free, think about which pair to remove. Taking the wrong two can bury the last copy under another tile.
Count copies. Most tiles come in sets of four. If two are already gone, the remaining two must be matched with each other, so make sure neither ends up stuck under the other.
In Connect, work from the edges. Tiles near the border have the most open paths. Clearing them gives the middle of the board room to connect.
Treat Shuffle as a reset, not a failure. Our Mahjong Solitaire deals tiles at random, so some boards can run out of moves. The Shuffle button rearranges the remaining tiles so you can keep going.

Our longer Mahjong Solitaire strategy guide goes deeper on reading the turtle layout.

What’s the difference between Mahjong and Mahjong Solitaire?

Mahjong is a 4-player game from 19th-century China. Players draw and discard tiles trying to form a winning hand of sets and a pair (Pung = three of a kind, Kong = four, Chow = three in sequence). It’s closer in feel to gin rummy than to Solitaire.

Mahjong Solitaire is a single-player tile-matching puzzle created by Brodie Lockard in 1981 on the PLATO system and popularized by Activision’s 1986 game Shanghai. It uses Mahjong tiles but plays nothing like real Mahjong — you just remove matching pairs from a stack. The Wikipedia entry on Mahjong solitaire covers the history.

The standard 144-tile set is the same in both: three suits (dots, bamboo and characters) numbered one to nine, four winds, three dragons, plus four flowers and four seasons. In Mahjong Solitaire, the suits, winds and dragons each come in four identical copies, while the flowers and seasons are one of each and match within their group.

Is there real Mahjong online?

Yes, but real Mahjong needs 4 players, scoring rules vary by region (Hong Kong, Japanese Riichi, American), and matches often take 30-60 minutes. Most browser Mahjong sites are actually Mahjong Solitaire. If you want real Mahjong, dedicated apps like Mahjong Soul or Riichi City are the standard. Our beginner’s guide to 4-player Mahjong explains the rules.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free game like Mahjong?

Mahjong Connect is the closest alternative to Mahjong Solitaire because it uses the same tiles with a faster connect-the-pair rule. If you want a card game with the same pair-removal idea, try Pyramid Solitaire.

Is Mahjong Solitaire the same as Mahjong?

No. Mahjong is a 4-player draw-and-discard game, while Mahjong Solitaire is a single-player matching puzzle that borrows the tiles. They share equipment, not rules.

Can I play these games like Mahjong on a phone?

Yes. Every game on this list runs in a mobile browser with no download or account. Mahjong Connect and Memory Match work especially well on small screens.

Is every Mahjong Solitaire board solvable?

Not always. When tiles are dealt at random, as in our version, a board can end with no free pairs left. Use Shuffle to rearrange the remaining tiles, or Undo to back out of a bad match.

What is Mahjong Connect called in other places?

The connect-with-two-turns rule is widely known as Shisen-Sho, a Japanese tile game. Whatever the name, the rule is the same: two matching tiles, a clear path, no more than two bends.

Is there a game like Mahjong I can play against someone?

Our Dominoes plays against a CPU, and Gin Rummy captures the set-building feel of real Mahjong. For actual 4-player Mahjong, you’ll need a dedicated Mahjong app.

Keep matching

Start with Mahjong Solitaire or Mahjong Connect, then branch into card and logic puzzles when you want a change. And when you need a break from careful matching, the Chrome Dino game is a one-button reset.

12 Games Like Mahjong — Free Tile-Matching Games to Play Online