Why you keep getting stuck in Mahjong Solitaire
You clear most of the board, there are 16 tiles left, and suddenly nothing matches. It feels like bad luck. On this site it can’t be, because every board is dealt so a solution exists. So what happened?
The usual cause
Almost always, it is this: you matched two copies of a tile while the other two copies were buried under each other.
Every normal tile has four copies. Say you can see two 7 of dots, both free, and you match them. The other two 7 of dots are now each other’s only partners. If one of them sits on top of the other, the bottom one can’t be freed until the top one is gone, and the top one can’t go without its partner underneath. The game is lost, but you won’t know for another ten minutes.
How to avoid it
Before you match a pair, glance around for the other two copies.
- If they are free too, or already gone, go ahead.
- If they are buried in different places, that is usually fine.
- If they are stacked one on top of the other, don’t match the free pair yet. Take something else, and come back when one of the buried copies is free. Then you can pair it with a free one.
It sounds like a lot of looking, but after a few games you do it without thinking.
Two other habits that help
Take tiles from the top first. A tile on the highest layer is blocking everything under it and nothing is blocking it. Taking it early is almost never a mistake.
Don’t rush the flowers and seasons. Each one matches any other in its group, which makes them your most flexible tiles. Keeping a few back gives you options later.
When it happens anyway
Use Undo. It is unlimited, so you can go back several moves and try a different order. If that doesn’t work, a Shuffle rearranges the tiles that are left into a board that can still be cleared. Shuffles are worth most late in the game, so try to save at least one.
For more on this, the strategy guide goes into detail.