Android game
Mahjong
The classic tile-matching game. Remove pairs of free tiles until the stack is gone — the light warns you before you get stuck.
The game
Mahjong (also known as Mahjong Solitaire) is a classic one-player tile game. Take away matching pairs of free tiles until the whole stack is gone. All tiles are drawn in the app itself, with small corner labels in case you don't read Chinese.
A solvability light in the top-left corner tells you whether the board can still be cleared completely. It turns red the moment a move leads to a dead end, so a single Undo fixes it.
Five difficulty levels
| Level | Layout | Deal | Hints | Shuffles | Score × |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | Pyramid – 56 tiles | always solvable | ∞ | ∞ | 1.0 |
| Medium | Castle – 102 tiles | always solvable | 5 | 3 | 1.5 |
| Hard | Turtle – 144 tiles | always solvable | 3 | 1 | 2.0 |
| Expert | Fortress – 144 tiles in deep stacks | always solvable | 1 | 1 | 2.5 |
| Master | Turtle – 144 tiles | random, verified winnable at the start | 0 | 0 | 3.0 |
"Always solvable" deals are built backwards from a winning sequence, so a full clear is possible — but you can still play yourself into a dead end. That's exactly what the light warns you about.
Highlights
- Solvability light: 🟢 can still be cleared, 🔴 dead end, 🟠 too complex to decide quickly — tap it for an explanation
- Smart hints that show a move from an actual winning line, not just any pair
- A shuffle always produces a winnable board (Easy to Expert)
- Unlimited undo / redo, including undoing a shuffle
- Time, moves, score, tiles left and available pairs always visible
- Auto-finish: when every remaining tile is free, one button clears the rest
- Blocked tiles are dimmed; pinch to zoom; portrait and landscape
- Top 10 lists for fastest time, fewest moves and highest score, with play and win statistics
- Pause hides the tiles and stops the clock; the game is saved when you leave the app
Download
Why Mahjong isn't on the Google Play Store
Google currently enforces highly demanding and complex requirements to publish new apps (such as mandatory closed testing phases with at least 20 people for 14 days, rigorous identity verification, and heavy administrative overhead). Because we build apps purely for our own enjoyment and want to keep it simple, we prefer to share the app with you directly.
How to Install the App
- Directly on your phone: Open the downloaded file. If prompted, allow your browser or file manager to "Install unknown apps" from outside the Google Play Store. Google started blocking this way of installing APK files.
- Via your computer: Connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable and install the app using Android Debug Bridge (ADB).
By downloading you agree to the Privacy Statement & Disclaimer. Use is entirely at your own risk.
How to install an APK directly on your phone
- Tap the download button above and wait for mahjong.apk to finish downloading.
- Open the file (via your notification shade or the Files app).
- Android will ask permission to install unknown apps. Tap Settings and enable "Allow from this source" for your browser or file manager.
- Go back and tap Install.
- Open Mahjong when installation completes.
Installing apps from outside the Play Store is a normal Android feature. You can turn the "unknown sources" permission back off afterwards if you prefer.
How to install an APK via your computer
The cleanest, safest, and most secure way to install an APK file—without modifying your phone's mobile security settings or enabling "Unknown Sources"—is via ADB (Android Debug Bridge) from your computer. This is an official command-line utility supplied by Google for Android developers.
Step 1: Download ADB on your computer (The fastest way)
You do not need to install the massive Android Studio suite. Google provides a lightweight, standalone package called Platform-Tools.
- Windows: Download the official Android SDK Platform-Tools for Windows.
- Mac / Linux: Download the zip package above or install it instantly via your terminal line:
- Mac (via Homebrew): Run
brew install android-platform-tools - Linux (Ubuntu/Debian): Run
sudo apt install adb
- Mac (via Homebrew): Run
Note: If you downloaded the ZIP file (Windows/Mac), extract it into an easy-to-reach directory, such as C:\platform-tools or your Desktop.
Step 2: Prepare your Android phone
- Open the Settings app on your phone.
- Go to About phone (or System > About).
- Tap Build number 7 times rapidly until a notification pop-up says: "You are now a developer!".
- Return to the main Settings menu, open the new Developer options panel, and turn on USB debugging.
Step 3: Install the APK file
- Connect your phone to your computer using a USB cable.
- Look at your phone's screen: a prompt will ask "Allow USB debugging?". Check the option for “Always allow from this computer” and tap Allow.
- Move your downloaded APK file directly into the folder where you extracted the platform-tools files.
- Open Command Prompt (CMD) on Windows or Terminal on Mac/Linux, and change directories to that folder (e.g., on Windows, type:
cd C:\platform-tools). - Run this command to verify your computer properly detects your device:
(If you see a serial number followed by the word 'device', you are connected successfully!)adb devices - Run the installation script command:
adb install mahjong.apk
When the terminal returns a Success message, the app is fully installed on your device and ready to launch!
How to play
1. Start a game
On the main menu, tap New game and pick a difficulty. Continue game returns to the game in progress.
2. Find free tiles
A tile is free when no tile lies on top of it (even partly) and its left or right side is open. Blocked tiles are dimmed.
3. Match pairs
Tap two free tiles with the same picture to remove them. Every Flower matches any other Flower, and every Season matches any other Season. Corner labels show numbers on Characters, E/S/W/N for the winds and R/G/W for the dragons.
4. Watch the light
If the light turns red, the board can't be cleared anymore: tap Undo. Use a hint or a shuffle if you are stuck (they cost points).
Scoring & tips
| What | Points |
|---|---|
| Pair | 10 × difficulty multiplier |
| Combo: another match within 4 seconds | +5 per step (max 5 steps) |
| Undo / Hint / Shuffle | −5 / −15 / −30 |
| Finish bonus | (4 s per tile − seconds used) × multiplier |
| Perfect game (no undo, hint or shuffle) | +100 × multiplier |
Moves counts every action (match, undo, redo, shuffle). A perfect 144-tile game takes 72 moves.
Tips
- Open the long rows from the ends — the outer tiles of a row block everything behind them.
- Dig into tall stacks early; tiles at the bottom of a stack are the usual cause of dead ends.
- All four copies free? Take both pairs — it can never hurt.
- Three copies free, the fourth buried? Keep the copy that is easiest to pair with the buried one later.
- Two copies lying on top of each other can never be paired with each other — plan to pair them with the other two.
- On a phone in portrait, pinch to zoom or turn the phone sideways for bigger tiles.
Permissions this app requests
- No internet, no mobile or Wi-Fi data. Android blocks all network access for the app.
- No background running. No services, jobs or alarms. The game pauses automatically when you leave the app and continues when you return.
Privacy & cost — in plain terms
- No usage data collected. No analytics, crash reporting or advertising SDKs, and no Google Play services or Firebase.
- No personal data requested. There are no accounts, no sign-up, no login.
- No cookies. The app is not a web app and stores no cookies; this website sets none either.
- No internet connection. The game works fully offline.
- No payment, ever. The game is completely free, with no ads and no in-app purchases.
Your settings, top 10 lists, play statistics and the game in progress are stored only in a private file on your device. Cloud backup and device transfer are disabled. For the full statement, see Privacy & Disclaimer.
Provided as is
Mahjong is a hobby project, shared for learning and fun. It is provided "as is", without any warranty. Please read the full Privacy Statement & Disclaimer before use — by installing or using the app you accept those terms.
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