Jewels Kyodai Mahjong

Jewels Kyodai Mahjong is SOFTGAMES putting the Jewels Blitz gem set onto a Kyodai tile layout. The tiles behave the way the tile-match genre demands, but what sits on their faces are the mystical stones from the match-three series rather than bamboo and characters. How to Win at Mahjong Solitaire sets out the same mechanics on one page.

The structure is what makes this one worth returning to. The library runs to more than sixty puzzles, and a selector lets you open any of them directly instead of grinding through in order, which is useful when a particular layout defeated you last time. Shuffle mode does the opposite, dealing you a puzzle you have not chosen when you want the arrangement to be a surprise. For one more pile of the same kind, see Colors.

The gem art is the practical difference in play. Coloured stones separate faster at a glance than traditional suits do, which changes how the board scans. SOFTGAMES draws it at 800 by 600 and it takes taps as well as clicks. The Christmas Holiday board uses the matching rule on a differently drawn set.

1. Open the puzzle selector and choose a layout, or start Shuffle mode to be handed one.
2. Find two free tiles that carry the same gem.
3. Take the pair to clear it from the stack.
4. Work the layout down until nothing is left, then pick the next of the sixty-odd puzzles.

• Use the selector deliberately — Jewels Kyodai Mahjong lets you reopen the exact layout that beat you rather than replaying ones you already solved.
• Shuffle mode for practice — being dealt an unfamiliar arrangement is better training than repeating a puzzle whose solution you half remember.
• Read the stones by colour — the Jewels Blitz set separates on colour first, so a colour sweep finds pairs quicker than a shape sweep.
• Clear the top of the stack early — freeing the upper gems is what makes the buried ones selectable later in the layout.