Mahjong Shanghai Dynasty

Agame’s version dates from 2001 and carries one feature that modern boards rarely bother with: every tile has a letter or a number printed in its top-right corner. When two faces are close enough to confuse, and the flower and season suits always are, the corner marks settle the question without guesswork.

The rules themselves are orthodox. Pairs come off a shaped pile, a tile is selectable only when at least one of its left or right sides is free, and any piece with a tile resting on top of it is out of reach until that tile goes. A second stacked layout here is the Classic Deluxe board.

Two layouts ship with it: the full Shanghai arrangement and a simplified Kids board with far fewer pieces, which makes this a reasonable place to teach someone the rule set before turning them loose on a deep pile. Next to it in the same group is the Chain grid.

The build carries no time limit, and it offers no hints or shuffles either, so a board that locks stays locked and the discipline of matching from the top downwards is not optional. Full screen is the sensible setting for an 800 by 500 stage, and the layout takes taps on a tablet. Aloha Mahjong sits beside this one among the layered boards.

1. Pick the Shanghai layout for the full pile, or the Kids board for a shorter game.
2. Look for two identical tiles, each with a free left or right side and nothing stacked above it.
3. Use the letter or number in the corner to confirm the two faces really do match.
4. Click the pair to remove it from the shape.
5. Clear the entire arrangement to win.

• Read the corner marks — they exist because the flowers and seasons are hard to tell apart, and using them prevents the commonest wasted click.
• Match downwards — with no shuffle to rescue you, every pair taken ought to free something underneath it.
• Count the fourth tile — when all four of a kind are free, take the two that unlock more of the pile.
• Start on the Kids layout — the same rules with a fraction of the depth, and it shows how the shape unpacks.
• Use full screen — an 800 by 500 stage makes those corner letters small, and enlarging is the difference between reading and squinting.