Mahjong Firefly

Night has fallen over the board and fireflies drift across it. That is the whole conceit of the TapLabGames version, and the dark palette does something practical as well, since pale tile faces stand out against it far more sharply than they would on bright felt.

The matching rule is the classic one, two identical uncovered tiles at a time, but the arrangement is built on a ten by ten footprint and the levels stack up rather than ending after a single board. Only tiles with an open side move in Master Qwans too.

The special tiles are the part players remember. Firefly pieces sit among the ordinary ones and shuffle the layout when they are used, which turns a stalled level into a fresh problem without ending the run. Kitchen Mahjong stands next to this one in the same list.

A timer is running and there is a hint alongside the shuffle, so a level can be lost as well as won. The music is slow and the night ambience is the reason many people leave the sound on. Full screen suits the 1280 by 960 stage, which is tall enough that a windowed board pushes the lower ranks below the eye line, and the same level plays under a finger. A second stacked layout here is the Sea Life board.

1. Find two identical tiles, each uncovered and free on one side.
2. Select them in turn to lift the pair off the night board.
3. Use a firefly tile when the level stalls, since it reshuffles whatever is left.
4. Clear every tile to finish the level and move on to the next challenge.
5. Keep the timer in view, because a level that runs out of time ends there.

• Peel the crown first — the top ranks are the only thing standing between you and half the board.
• Spend fireflies at a dead end — a shuffle used while pairs are still legal wastes the one tool that reopens a level.
• Trust the contrast — the dark background separates the tile faces well, so misreads here are haste rather than the artwork.
• Track the timer between levels — the pressure builds as the layouts grow denser.
• Switch to full screen — a 1280 by 960 stage is tall, and in a window the bottom ranks hide below the fold.