Nine Cards Of Winter

The number in the title is the whole rule. Nine Cards Of Winter gives you a stack that holds nine picked tiles, and three of the same kind clear out of it. The rules behind it are laid out in Mahjong Tower Tips.

That makes it a triple-match board rather than a pairing one, and the difference is where the danger sits. Every tile you pick occupies a slot until its two partners arrive, so a run of hopeful picks fills the stack, and when it fills the game is over. Lof Games buries pieces under others as well, which means the safe picks and the useful ones are rarely the same tile, since uncovering what is hidden usually costs slots you would rather keep. Pairs leave the stack the same way in the Pet Care pile.

The festive set runs at 1280 by 720 and accepts taps as well as clicks, which matters when nine similar holiday pictures sit side by side in the tray. Freeing the lower rows early matters in the Solitaire Zodiac pile as well.

1. Pick a Christmas tile from the board and it moves into your nine-slot stack.
2. Collect three of the same kind to clear them out of the stack together.
3. Watch your free slots, because a full stack of nine ends the run.
4. Take pieces off the top to uncover the tiles hidden beneath them.

• Never pick a lone tile — in Nine Cards Of Winter a single hopeful pick sits in the stack until both partners turn up, and slots are the resource you run out of.
• Clear a set before uncovering — free two or three slots first, then start lifting pieces to see what is hidden underneath.
• Count the copies on show — if only two of a holiday picture are visible, the third is buried, and picking early is a gamble.
• Keep two slots spare — a reserve of two lets you dig for a hidden tile without the stack of nine closing on you.