A full mahjong set has 144 tiles: three suits numbered 1 to 9 (Dots, Bamboo and Characters), four Winds, three Dragons, four Flowers and four Seasons. Every suit tile, wind and dragon comes four times; flowers and seasons come once each. In mahjong solitaire, identical tiles match, and any flower matches any flower and any season matches any season.
The three suits (108 tiles)
| Suit | Also called | Tiles | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dots | Circles, Coins | 1 to 9, drawn as circles | 9 × 4 = 36 |
| Bamboo | Sticks, Bams | 1 to 9, drawn as bamboo sticks | 9 × 4 = 36 |
| Characters | Cracks, Numbers, Myriads | 1 to 9, traditionally a numeral above the character for ten thousand | 9 × 4 = 36 |
The 1 of Bamboo is often drawn as a bird rather than a stick. In Tilefold, the Characters suit is drawn as large numbers, labelled Number, so it's easy to read at a glance.
The honours (28 tiles)
- Winds: East, South, West and North, four of each (16 tiles).
- Dragons: Red, Green and White, four of each (12 tiles). The White Dragon is often an empty frame.
Honours have no numbers, so in a full set they're the easiest pictures to spot and the hardest to tell apart quickly when several are free.
Flowers and seasons (8 tiles)
- Flowers: four different tiles, usually plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo.
- Seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Because each flower and season appears only once, mahjong solitaire treats them as two groups: any flower pairs with any other flower, and any season with any other season. That gives two pairs of flowers and two pairs of seasons, just like the four copies of every other tile.
How many pairs?
144 tiles make 72 pairs. Smaller layouts use fewer tiles but keep the same rule: every picture appears in an even number, so every tile has a partner. In Tilefold, each of the ten layouts is dealt with whole pairs and in an order that can be cleared.
Telling tiles apart quickly
- Numbers first: the 1 to 9 suits are the bulk of the board. Learn to read the number before the suit.
- Use the screen reader or zoom: with TalkBack on, Tilefold reads each free tile by name, such as "Bamboo 7, free".
- Pick a table colour that suits you in Settings: jade, ocean, night or walnut. A calm background makes the pictures stand out.
New to the game? Start with how to play mahjong solitaire. Curious about the four-player game these tiles come from? See mahjong solitaire vs mahjong.
