Frozen Mahjong

Frozen Mahjong sets the standard clearing puzzle against a winter backdrop, with snowflakes, candy canes and reindeer in place of bamboo and characters. The faces are decorative rather than traditional, so the first minute of any board goes on learning what counts as identical.

Each level allows twenty minutes. That is generous by the standards of timed boards, but the scoring pushes back: finish early and you earn a bonus, and finish without touching a hint and you earn another. Only tiles with an open side move in the Jolly Jong One board too.

A pause button is included, which is unusual and genuinely useful. You can stop the clock, study the stack, and start again with a plan rather than clicking your way into a dead layout. The guide to working a base walks through the same rules from the start.

This is a Flash-era title made for a desktop browser. Full screen is the way to play it, because the festive art is busy and small tiles blur into the background. Clearing the upper storeys first keeps the board readable as the winter scene fills in behind it. The Hidden Pairs board keeps the layered board and changes the shape.

1. Pick out two identical winter tiles that are free to lift.
2. Remove pairs until nothing is left on the board.
3. Finish inside the twenty-minute limit for the level.
4. Hit pause if you want to study the stack without losing time.
5. Leave the hint alone if you are chasing the unaided bonus.

• Chase the early finish — Frozen Mahjong pays a bonus for time left on the twenty-minute clock.
• Refuse the hint — clearing a level unaided is worth more than clearing it fast with help.
• Use the pause properly — stop the clock, map two or three moves ahead, then resume.
• Strip the top storeys — reindeer and candy canes hidden under a layer cannot be paired at all.
• Turn on full screen — the snowy background swallows small tiles, and misreads cost you the time bonus.