Tap 3 Mahjong

Azerion Casual Games describes the matching in Tap 3 Mahjong as a refreshing new way, and the wording of the rest gives away what has changed: you clear levels by collecting and matching the tiles, in that order. Collection precedes the match, which is not how a classic stack behaves, where the pair comes straight off the board. The explanation of dead boards covers where those rules come from.

Everything around that stays familiar. The tile faces are the classic motifs, the goal is one level after another, and the soundtrack is deliberately soothing rather than driving. Azerion files the game under logic, which fits a format where the choice of what to pick up matters as much as spotting a match. Working the covered edges first pays in the Halloween pile as well.

It runs at 800 by 600 and takes a tap as readily as a click, which the name rather suggests it was designed around. Nine Cards Of Winter keeps the layered board and changes the shape.

1. Start a level and look over the classic tile motifs on offer.
2. Collect tiles as the game allows, building toward matches rather than lifting pairs straight off a stack.
3. Match the collected tiles to clear them away.
4. Empty the level and move on to the next one.

• Think about what you pick up — collection comes before matching, so a careless grab is harder to walk back than a careless click.
• Learn the classic motifs — Azerion keeps the traditional faces, so bamboo and character suits are worth recognising on sight.
• Take the levels one at a time — the game is built as a sequence, and rushing a stage carries nothing forward.
• Leave the sound on — the soothing music is part of what Azerion built here, and it sets the pace the board expects.