Mahjong Solitaire Christmas Mahjong Snowman Mahjong
Snowman Mahjong
Snowman Mahjong builds the 144 tiles into a snowman: a top hat with a brim, a round head, a round body and a bigger round base, with a narrow neck and waist between them. It is part of our Christmas Mahjong collection.
It is the gentlest of the six Christmas layouts. The narrow neck and waist break the board into three separate snowballs, and each ball is only a few tiles across, so tiles come free quickly.
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 Snowman layout is built
From the top: a hat two tiles high, a brim of six single tiles, a head four tiles wide that rises to three in the middle, and a neck of two single tiles. The body is up to eight tiles wide and three high at its centre. A waist of four single tiles leads down to the base, which is ten tiles wide at its widest and three high in the middle.
Tips for Snowman Mahjong
- Start on the hat. Its tiles are high and blocking the brim and head below.
- The neck and waist are single tiles with open sides. They are free almost all game, so keep them as spare moves for later.
- Clear the three snowballs evenly. If you finish the head first, the partners you need may be buried in the base.
Snowman layout at a glance
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Tiles
- 144 (72 pairs)
- Layers
- 3
- Board size
- 12 tiles wide, 13 rows deep
- Free at the start
- 42 tiles
- Cleared in our tests
- About 75%
The Snowman layout stacks its 144 tiles in three layers: 78 on the table, 50 on layer 2, 16 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 Snowman it cleared the board without a shuffle in about 75% of games. That is easier than the classic Turtle, which comes in at about 50%. 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 Christmas layouts
Six festive shapes, all with the same 144 tiles and the same rules. Each one is a little different to clear.
Christmas Tree MahjongEasy A tall tree with a star on top, a trunk and a pot. 
Christmas Bell MahjongMedium A domed bell with a flared rim and a clapper below. 
Christmas Stocking MahjongEasy A stocking with a raised cuff and a foot pointing right. 
Christmas Wreath MahjongEasy A round wreath with a bow tied at the bottom. 
Christmas Present MahjongEasy A wrapped box with a raised ribbon and a bow. See all six Christmas layouts or all 24 year-round layouts
Questions people ask
Is Snowman Mahjong easy?
Yes. It is the easiest of our Christmas layouts. In our tests it was cleared without a shuffle in about three games out of four.
How many tiles are in Snowman Mahjong?
The usual 144, which makes 72 pairs, stacked up to three high.
Are there other Christmas layouts?
Yes, six in all: Christmas Tree, Snowman, Bell, Stocking, Wreath and Present. They are all on the Christmas Mahjong page.