Mahjong Solitaire All layouts Hourglass Mahjong
Hourglass Mahjong
Hourglass Mahjong is an hourglass on its side: a wide top half and a wide bottom half, joined by a narrow waist only four tiles across.
Only 20 tiles are free when you start, one of the lowest numbers on the site. It still plays at about the level of the Turtle, because every row is short and opens up quickly once you get going.
How to play
The rules are the same on every layout. Click two free tiles with the same face to remove them. A tile is free when nothing sits on top of it and its left or right side is open. Any flower matches any flower, and any season matches any season. Clear all 72 pairs to win. The how to play guide has pictures.
How the Hourglass layout is built
Each half narrows from ten tiles wide at the edge to four at the waist. The outer rows are two tiles high and the rows inside them are three high.
Tips for Hourglass Mahjong
- Don't worry about the slow start. Each pair you take from a short row frees a new tile quickly.
- Work both halves together. Partners for tiles in the top half are often in the bottom half.
- The waist is narrow. Clearing it early splits the board into two separate puzzles.
Hourglass layout at a glance
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Tiles
- 144 (72 pairs)
- Layers
- 3
- Board size
- 10 tiles wide, 8 rows deep
- Free at the start
- 20 tiles
- Cleared in our tests
- About 50%
The Hourglass layout stacks its 144 tiles in three layers: 56 on the table, 56 on layer 2, 32 on top.
How we rate difficulty. We had the computer play 200 games on each layout, picking moves the same way our Hint button does. On Hourglass it cleared the board without a shuffle in about 50% of games. That is about the same as the classic Turtle. People who plan ahead do better than that, but the order of the layouts stays much the same. The full list is on the all layouts page.
More medium layouts and favourites
Every layout uses the same 144 tiles and the same rules. The shape is what changes, and the shape decides how hard the game is.
Turtle MahjongClassic The classic 144-tile board. Five layers, a long tail at each end. 
Pyramid MahjongMedium Four tiers stacked into a solid block. Peel it from the edges. 
Bridge MahjongMedium A long double-deck span between four towers. 
Castle MahjongMedium Outer walls, corner towers and a keep in the middle. 
Crab MahjongMedium A domed shell with claws reaching out at each corner. 
Fish MahjongMedium A rounded body with a raised middle and a split tail. See all 24 layouts, sorted by difficulty
Questions people ask
Why are so few tiles free at the start?
The outer rows are fully stacked, so only their end tiles and the very top tiles can move at first.
How hard is Hourglass Mahjong?
Medium, about the same as the classic Turtle.
Is Hourglass Mahjong free?
Yes. It plays free in your browser with no account.