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A Shanghai solitaire in "Turtle formation".

The same solitaire, with "free tiles" highlighted.

Mahjong solitaire is a solitaire matching game that uses a set of Mahjong tiles rather than cards. It is also known as Shanghai solitaire, electronic or computerized mahjong, MahJong solitaire, solitaire Mahjong and, erroneously, as Mahjong. The tiles come from the four-player game popular in Asia known as Mahjong. The 144 tiles are arranged in a special four-layer pattern with their faces upwards. A tile that can be moved left or right without disturbing other tiles is said to be open or exposed. The goal is to match open pairs of identical tiles and remove them from the board, exposing the tiles under them for play. The game is finished when all pairs of tiles have been removed from the board or when there are no exposed pairs remaining. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links Acap. ... Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Image File history File links A Shanghai solitaire using Mah Jong tiles, set into the Dragon formation. Photographed on May 08, 2005. ... Image File history File links A Shanghai solitaire using Mah Jong tiles, set into the Dragon formation. Photographed on May 08, 2005. ... Image File history File links A Shanghai solitaire using Mah Jong tiles, set into the Dragon formation, and with free tiles highlited. ... Image File history File links A Shanghai solitaire using Mah Jong tiles, set into the Dragon formation, and with free tiles highlited. ... This article is about the solitaire family of card games. ... Mahjong tiles are tiles of Chinese origin that are used to play many games, most notably Mahjong and Mahjong Solitaire. ... Some typical modern playing cards. ... This article is about the four-player game of Chinese origin. ...

Mahjong solitaire can be played using genuine tiles and a special wooden frame for set-up. Usually though, it is played in an electronic form as a computer game. This removes the tedium of set-up and the temptation to cheat. Some electronic Mahjong solitaire games offer extra options, such as (1) changing the tile set and patterns from the traditional tiles to flowers, jewels or other items that may be easier to match up at a glance, (2) playing a series of different layouts with varying levels of difficulty (usually given Chinese names such as 'the ox' or 'the snake'), or (3) adding "wildcard tiles" and other tiles that have special functions. These games also have an optional time limit. They may also offer hints/cheat options such as the ability to have a match found for the player or to backtrack and undo already made moves. Additionally, most implementations of the game arrange the tiles in such a way that the game is solvable in at least one way. A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... “Cheat” redirects here. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... For other uses, see Snake (disambiguation). ...

Mahjong solitaire can be played either solo or with a partner, in which case the aim is to accumulate the most pairs, to be the last one to match a pair, or to score the most points. Points are gained for each pair removed, with bonus points for removing matched pairs in sequence or removing pairs in sequence that are parts of sets. Using traditional mahjong tiles, the sets include the dragons, the flowers, the seasons, and the winds (with the winds being worth the most bonus points).

Players should open up new tiles with every pair they eliminate. Choosing obvious pairs from the top levels will often end the game prematurely (i.e. lose) by leaving essential tiles under cover.

History

The computer game was originally created by Brodie Lockard in 1981 on the PLATO computer and named Mah-Jongg after the game that uses the same titles for play. Lockard claims that it was based on a centuries old Chinese game called "the Turtle," according to Brad Fregger in his book "Lucky That Way." The computer game was released for free and was played using a CDC-721 touch screen terminal. Control Data Corporation released a new version as a paid online game in 1983. The first version remained available for free. Brodie Lockard is the designer of the computer game Mahjong solitaire, also known as Shanghai solitaire. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... PLATO was one of the first generalized Computer assisted instruction systems, originally built by the University of Illinois (U of I) and later taken over by Control Data Corporation (CDC), who provided the machines it ran on. ... This article is about the machine. ... Control Data Corporation (CDC), was one of the pioneering supercomputer firms. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ...

The Mahjongg game bundled with GNOME.

However, it was not until Activision released Shanghai in 1986 for the Macintosh and Apple IIgs that the game gathered momentum. This version was also created by Brodie Lockard (programming and graphics) with Brad Fregger as the producer. The game became very successful, and around 10 million copies were sold. It has been ported to many different platforms.The name "Shanghai" was trademarked by Activision. Image File history File links Mahjongg. ... Image File history File links Mahjongg. ... This article is about the mythical creature. ... Activision, Inc. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... The first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to a 512K Fat Mac. The Macintosh or Mac, is a line of personal computers designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer. ... The Apple IIGS, the fifth model inception of the Apple II, was the most powerful member of the Apple II series of personal computers made by Apple Computer. ... Brad Fregger (born May 31, 1940 in Billings, Montana) is an American entrepreneur, author and former game producer publisher, and book publisher. ... In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed (e. ... “(TM)” redirects here. ...

As the game is based on mahjong tiles, some confusion arose with the 4-player mahjong game. Although the name mahjong solitaire is generally accepted, other names include The Turtle as well as brandnames Shanghai Solitaire, Taipei, Kyodai and Moraff's. Taipei, originally written by David Norris in 1986, was so named as it was a "cheap clone" of Shanghai. This article is about the four-player game of Chinese origin. ... Raised in Ithaca, NY, Steve Moraffs father was an IBM employee who worked on Cornells mainframe and his mother was a child development expert. ...

Microsoft Taipei

A game called Ac Chen was released for the NeXTStep system, which was basically mahjong solitaire with pop culture symbols on the pieces instead of traditional Chinese pictures. It is now also available on the Nintendo DS, on the Clubhouse Games games compilation in the US and the 42 All-Time Classics in Europe. Versions simply labeled Mahjong are available in various Linux desktops. Image File history File links Taipei. ... Image File history File links Taipei. ... NEXTSTEP is the original object-oriented, multitasking operating system that NeXT Computer, Inc. ... Clubhouse Games ), 42 All-Time Classics in Europe [1], is a compilation video game consisting of card, board, and parlor games developed by Agenda and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. ...

A version of this game was also included in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows 3.x in 1990 and went by the name Taipei. It was subsequently included in the Best of Windows Entertainment Pack. Premium editions of the new Windows Vista operating system include a version of the game known as Mahjong Titans. The original Microsoft Windows Entertainment Pack (WEP) was a collection of simply-designed computer games for the Windows 3. ... “Windows” redirects here. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... The Best of Windows Entertainment Pack (BOWEP) was a collection of thirteen simple games sold separately from Windows. ... Windows Vista is a line of graphical operating systems used on personal computers, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, Tablet PCs, and media centers. ... An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. ... Mahjong Titans is a computer game, developed by Oberon Games, included with Microsofts Windows Vista operating system. ...

External links

• Mahjong Solitaire History, rules, and links to over 200 computer implementations of Mahjong solitaire.