Pixel Cat Mahjong
Pixel-art cats in place of hieroglyphs, joined by a drawn line before a short clock runs out.
Instead of tiles carrying hieroglyphics, this board from bestphysics is covered in pixel-art cats, some drawn as cute and some deliberately scary. Released in 2021 on a wide 1280 by 800 canvas, it puts a lot of small sprites on screen at once, and telling one grinning face from another is a real part of the difficulty.
Two cats leave the board when you find the identical pair and a symbolic line can be drawn between them. That line is allowed at most two ninety-degree turns and cannot pass through a cat that is still in play, so a matching pair buried in the middle of a full board has to wait for its neighbours to go first. Cake Link Master is the nearest flat-board neighbour of this one here.
The clock is short by design, which is the whole character of this layout. There is little time to search, so a run turns on how quickly your eye separates the funny cats from the spooky ones rather than on route-planning. Hints and a shuffle are on hand for the moments when a level tightens up, and later levels add more cat designs to the same space.
Full screen makes those sprites large enough to read at a glance, which on a fast board is worth more than any hint. Tapping works as clicking does on a phone or tablet. Reading the edges first works in the Summer Onet Connect board too.
Controls
Mouse, or a tap on a touchscreen.
How to Play
- Start a level and scan the grid for two identical cats.
- Click the first cat, then its twin, to draw the connecting line.
- Keep the line legal: at most two ninety-degree turns and no cats in the way.
- Clear the board before the short timer runs out to reach the next level.
- Take a hint or shuffle the board when the layout stalls.
Tips & Tricks
- Speed beats elegance — with so little time, take the pair standing next to each other rather than hunting the clever long line.
- Learn the scary faces — the spooky cats repeat with small differences, and mixing two of them up wastes clicks you cannot afford.
- Break open the centre — outer cats are always linkable, so spend early seconds on the ones in the middle.
- Shuffle only when locked — it is the one escape from a board with no legal line, so do not burn it on a slow search.
- Play at full screen size — pixel sprites read badly when small, and the bigger board saves more seconds than it costs to switch.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is on the tiles in Pixel Cat Mahjong?
Pixel-art cats, drawn either very cute or deliberately scary, instead of the usual hieroglyphic faces.
How are two cats matched in Pixel Cat Mahjong?
You find identical images and connect them with a symbolic line that takes no more than two ninety-degree turns.
Is Pixel Cat Mahjong a fast game?
Yes. The timer is deliberately short, so the search for identical images has to be quick.
Does Pixel Cat Mahjong have a full screen option?
It does, and small pixel sprites benefit from it more than most artwork does.
Who made Pixel Cat Mahjong?
bestphysics, released in 2021 for both desktop and touchscreen play.
