Mahjong Solitaire is a matching game, not the four-player Mahjong: remove free tiles in matching pairs until the board is empty. Every deal here can be won, but the order you take pairs in decides whether you get there without help.
Know which tiles are free
A tile is free when nothing sits on top of it and one of its sides, left or right, is open. Blocked tiles are shaded a little darker. Only free tiles can be matched.
Take the top layers first
Tiles in the tall middle of the layout cover the most other tiles. Clearing the top of the stack early opens far more of the board than picking off tiles at the edges.
Open up the long rows
A long row can only be taken from its ends. Work on the longest rows early, from both ends, so they don’t leave a stubborn middle tile blocking everything at the end.
Think about all four tiles of a set
Most tiles come in sets of four. If three are free, match the two that free up the most, and leave the third for later. When a tile you need is buried under its own match, remove the other pair first or you may strand them both.
Flowers and seasons are flexible
Any flower matches any other flower, and any season any other season. That makes them useful for freeing tiles in awkward spots, so don’t spend them too early.
Use Hint, Undo and Shuffle
Hint shows a pair you can take when you can’t see one.
Undo takes back your last pair, so you can try another order.
If no pairs are left, Shuffle rearranges the remaining tiles into a board that can still be cleared.
Start with Easy
The Easy layout has 72 tiles in two layers, a good way to learn which tiles block which. Turtle is the classic 144-tile layout in five layers.