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Mahjong Tile Swap is a free online mahjong puzzle about moving tiles, not picking them. Every tile on the board has exactly one twin, and you swap two neighbouring tiles — or a tile and an empty gap — until twins touch and clear. Cleared pairs leave holes instead of refilling, so each of the 30 boards is a fixed puzzle with a par: the fewest swaps that can clear it, proved by an exhaustive search. Play free in your browser on phone or desktop, with no download and no sign-up.
How to play Mahjong Tile Swap
- Every tile on the board has exactly one twin somewhere else on it, and no twins touch at the start.
- Tap a tile, then tap a tile or an empty gap right beside it — up, down, left or right — and the two trade places. You can also swipe a tile toward its neighbour, or use the arrow keys with Enter (Shift + arrow swaps in one go).
- Whenever a tile you moved ends up edge to edge with its twin, both tiles leave the board. A single swap clears two pairs when both moved tiles land beside their twins.
- Cleared tiles leave holes: nothing falls and nothing new arrives, so later tiles can slide through the gaps.
- Clear every tile within the move limit. Clearing in par — the fewest swaps the board allows — earns three stars, par + 2 earns two, and anything within the limit earns one.
- Undo takes back a swap, Hint shows a good swap up to three times a board, and Restart deals the same board again. Your progress and a board in progress are saved in your browser.
Tips
- Hunt for the double first. Two neighbouring tiles whose twins sit just past each other — like 2 1 2 1 in a row — clear two pairs with one swap.
- Count distance, not tiles. A pair three steps apart needs two steps of travel, and one swap moves at most two tiles one step each, so a far-flung pair is where the swaps go.
- Make both halves of a swap count. A swap that brings one tile closer to its twin and pushes the other away usually costs a swap later.
- Use the holes. Once a pair clears, a tile can slide into the gap without disturbing a neighbour, which is how long journeys get cheap on the bigger boards.
- Over par? Undo back to the last swap you were sure of. A hint always shows the shortest finish from wherever you are, so it also tells you how many swaps you have lost.
FAQ
Is Mahjong Tile Swap free to play?
Yes. Mahjong Tile Swap is completely free to play online with no download, no account and no in-game purchases.
Does Mahjong Tile Swap work on mobile?
Yes. Tap or swipe tiles on a phone or tablet, or play with a mouse or the keyboard on a computer. The boards are at most six tiles wide, so they fit an upright phone.
How is Mahjong Tile Swap different from Mahjong Connect and Mahjong Solitaire?
In Mahjong Connect you pick two matching tiles that a path with at most two turns can join, and in Mahjong Solitaire you take free pairs off a stacked layout. In both you choose pairs. In Mahjong Tile Swap you never pick a pair at all: you move tiles one swap at a time, and a pair clears itself the moment its two tiles touch.
Is Mahjong Tile Swap a match-3 game?
No. Match-3 games such as Match 3 Jewels clear lines of three and refill the board from above, so the board never runs out and luck decides what falls. Here every tile has exactly one twin, a pair clears as soon as it touches, cleared pairs leave holes, and nothing new ever arrives — every board is a fixed puzzle with a best answer.
What does par mean, and is it really the fewest swaps?
Par is the fewest swaps that can clear the board. It was found by an exhaustive search (IDA*, which only stops once no shorter solution can exist), and the game’s tests re-run that search on all 30 boards. On small boards the same search also agrees with a brute-force check of every position. Three stars therefore means you found a perfect solution.
How many levels are there, and how hard do they get?
There are 30 boards in three chapters of ten. The Garden starts with a 3×3 board you can clear in 2 swaps; the Pavilion brings wider boards and the first shaped ones; the Palace ends on boards up to six tiles wide with a par of 16. Par never goes down from one level to the next.
Is the move limit fair?
The limit is par plus 5 swaps in the Garden and the Pavilion, and par plus 6 in the Palace. Every board was chosen so that a simple computer player that only looks two swaps ahead still clears it within the limit; it needed between 0 and 6 swaps more than par. Undo is free, so the limit never ends a board you can still rescue.
Do hints cost stars?
No. Stars count swaps only. You get three hints per board; while you are on the shortest route a hint shows its next swap, and once you leave it the game solves the board again from where you are and shows the first swap of the shortest finish. If that search runs too long it falls back to the best move two swaps deep, and says so.