Olimpian Mahjong

Every tile in Olimpian Mahjong stands for a winter sport from the Beijing 2022 programme — skating, curling, ski jumping and the rest, drawn as athletes and event logos. Matching is the familiar business of finding two identical faces, but bestphysics added a wrinkle that changes the order of play: some tiles are frozen. The same group of boards includes the Jewel Quest layout.

A frozen tile is coloured blue and refuses to be picked until it thaws. Because the thaw happens on its own schedule, the board has a rhythm rather than a straight descent — you clear what is available, wait for the ice to give up its tiles, then come back for them. With no time limit anywhere in the thirty-odd levels, that waiting costs nothing but patience. Birds Mahjong Deluxe belongs to the same easy-going list.

The build runs wide at 1280 by 720 with a plain interface and light music behind it, and it takes a mouse click or a tap. The sport icons are line art at small sizes, and several winter disciplines look alike in silhouette — a skier and a snowboarder at window size are a coin flip, which is the argument for full screen. The Dream Pet Link 2 layout is catalogued beside this board.

1. Look over the field for two tiles carrying the same winter sport.
2. Click both to remove them from play.
3. Leave the blue frozen tiles alone; they cannot be selected yet.
4. Return to the frozen positions once they have thawed.
5. Clear every tile to advance to the next of the thirty-plus levels.

• Work around the ice — frozen tiles in Olimpian Mahjong will not answer a click.
• No clock, so scan properly — Olimpian Mahjong lets a level take as long as you need.
• Learn the icon set — several winter sports read alike in outline.
• Clear near the frozen blocks — open space around them saves time once they thaw.
• Use full screen — line-art sport symbols at 1280 by 720 gain a lot from the extra size.