Mahjong Tile Guide

A full mahjong set has 144 tiles, and Mahjong Solitaire uses all of them. Knowing what each tile is makes matching faster and the game far more enjoyable. The tiles fall into three groups: the suits, the honors, and the bonus tiles. Here is everything on the board.

The three suits (108 tiles)

The suited tiles are numbered 1 through 9, with four identical copies of each number in each suit. That is 9 × 4 × 3 = 108 tiles. To match two suited tiles they must be the same suit and the same number — the 5 of bamboo only matches another 5 of bamboo.

Circles / Dots (Pin or Tong) — each tile shows a number of round dots, 1 to 9. The dots are said to represent coins or strings of cash.
Bamboo (Sou or Bam) — sticks of bamboo, 1 to 9. The 1 of bamboo is usually drawn as a bird rather than a single stick, a charming quirk worth remembering when you hunt for its match.
Characters (Man or Wan) — each shows a Chinese numeral above the character for "ten thousand" (萬). These are the most text-heavy tiles and the easiest to misread, so look closely at the top numeral.

The honor tiles (28 tiles)

Honor tiles have no numbers. They come in two families and, like the suits, must match exactly.

Winds (16 tiles) — East, South, West, and North, four of each. In the four-player game the winds set seating and scoring; in solitaire they are simply four more tiles to pair.
Dragons (12 tiles) — Red, Green, and White, four of each. The White dragon is often a blank or framed tile, which can make it tricky to spot at a glance.

The bonus tiles: flowers & seasons (8 tiles)

The bonus tiles are the exception to the "must be identical" rule, and the feature new players most often forget.

Flowers (4 tiles) — Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum. Any flower matches any other flower.
Seasons (4 tiles) — Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Any season matches any other season.

Because flowers match flowers and seasons match seasons regardless of which specific tile they are, these eight tiles are some of the easiest pairs on the board — but only if you remember the rule. When you spot a flower or a season sitting free, it can almost always be cleared.

How the counts add up

108 suited tiles + 16 winds + 12 dragons + 8 bonus tiles = 144. Every board contains exactly this set, arranged in the four-layer turtle layout. Since the total is an even number and every tile has a partner, a complete board can always — in principle — be cleared down to nothing.

Reading tiles quickly

With practice you will recognise tiles by silhouette rather than by counting dots: bamboo is green and busy, circles are round and symmetric, characters are tall and inky. Spotting the bonus flowers and seasons first is a good habit, since they are free matches whenever they are available.

Now that you know the tiles, learn the winning strategy, brush up on the rules, or just play a game →.