Mahjong solitaire
Encyclopedia
Mahjong solitaire is a solitaire
matching game that uses a set of Mahjong tiles
rather than cards. It is also known as Shanghai solitaire, electronic or computerized mahjong, MahJong solitaire, solitaire Mahjong and, erroneously, as Mahjong
. The tiles come from the four-player game popular in East Asia known as Mahjong.
Tiles that are below other tiles cannot be seen. But by repeated undos and/or restarts which some programs offer, one gradually gets more and more information. Sometimes, tiles are only partially covered by other tiles, and the extent to which such tiles can be distinguished depends on the actual tile set. Playing Mahjong solitaire optimally in the sense to maximize the probability of removing all tiles is PSPACE-complete
, and the game gets NP-complete
when peeking below tiles is allowed.
A sample of 10,000,000 games with the default layout, 'the turtle
' (see right), which were analyzed in about 40 hours on a single processor thread, revealed that between 2.95 and 2.96 percent of the turtles cannot be solved even if peeking is allowed, but that is less than without
peeking.
. Some electronic Mahjong solitaire games offer extra options, such as:
These games also have an optional time limit
. They may also offer hints/cheat options such as the ability to have a match found for the player or to backtrack and undo already made moves. Additionally, most implementations of the game arrange the tiles in such a way that the game is solvable in at least one way.
Mahjong solitaire can be played either solo or with a partner, in which case the aim is to accumulate the most pairs, to be the last one to match a pair, or to score the most points. Points are gained for each pair removed, with bonus points for removing matched pairs in sequence or removing pairs in sequence that are parts of sets. Using traditional mahjong tiles, the sets include the dragons, the flowers, the seasons, and the winds (with the winds being worth the most bonus points).
Players should open up new tiles with every pair they eliminate. Choosing obvious pairs from the top levels will often end the game prematurely (i.e. lose) by leaving essential tiles under cover.
Some implementations, (GNOME Mahjongg, PySol), offer to shuffle the tiles when there are no exposed pairs remaining; letting you almost always be able to "win" the game.
released a new version as a paid online game
in 1983. The first version remained available for free.
However, it was not until Activision
released Shanghai
in 1986 for the Macintosh and Apple IIgs
that the game gathered momentum. This version was also created by Brodie Lockard (programming and graphics) with Brad Fregger
as the producer. The game became very successful, and around 10 million copies were sold. It has been ported
to many different platforms. The name "Shanghai" was trademark
ed by Activision.
As the game is based on mahjong tiles, some confusion arose with the 4-player mahjong
game. Although the name mahjong solitaire is generally accepted, other names include The Turtle as well as brand names Shanghai Solitaire, Taipei, Kyodai and Moraff
's. Taipei, originally written by David Norris in 1986, was so named as it was a "cheap clone" of Shanghai.
A version of this game was also included in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack
for Windows 3.x
in 1990 and went by the name Taipei. It was subsequently included in the Best of Windows Entertainment Pack
. Premium editions of the Windows Vista
operating system
and Windows 7 include a version of the game known as Mahjong Titans
.
Some variations have been ported to Flash and are played online using a web browser.
Solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire....
matching game that uses a set of Mahjong tiles
Mahjong tiles
Mahjong tiles are tiles of Chinese origin that are used to play many games, most notably Mahjong and Mahjong solitaire. Although they are most commonly tiles, they may also refer to playing cards with similar contents as well.- Construction :Traditionally, Mahjong tiles were made of bone, often...
rather than cards. It is also known as Shanghai solitaire, electronic or computerized mahjong, MahJong solitaire, solitaire Mahjong and, erroneously, as Mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...
. The tiles come from the four-player game popular in East Asia known as Mahjong.
Play
The 144 tiles are arranged in a special four-layer pattern with their faces upwards. A tile is said to be open or exposed if it can be moved either left or right without disturbing other tiles. The goal is to match open pairs of identical tiles and remove them from the board, exposing the tiles under them for play. The game is finished when all pairs of tiles have been removed from the board or when there are no exposed pairs remaining.Tiles that are below other tiles cannot be seen. But by repeated undos and/or restarts which some programs offer, one gradually gets more and more information. Sometimes, tiles are only partially covered by other tiles, and the extent to which such tiles can be distinguished depends on the actual tile set. Playing Mahjong solitaire optimally in the sense to maximize the probability of removing all tiles is PSPACE-complete
PSPACE-complete
In complexity theory, a decision problem is PSPACE-complete if it is in the complexity class PSPACE, and every problem in PSPACE can be reduced to it in polynomial time...
, and the game gets NP-complete
NP-complete
In computational complexity theory, the complexity class NP-complete is a class of decision problems. A decision problem L is NP-complete if it is in the set of NP problems so that any given solution to the decision problem can be verified in polynomial time, and also in the set of NP-hard...
when peeking below tiles is allowed.
A sample of 10,000,000 games with the default layout, 'the turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
' (see right), which were analyzed in about 40 hours on a single processor thread, revealed that between 2.95 and 2.96 percent of the turtles cannot be solved even if peeking is allowed, but that is less than without
peeking.
Variations
Mahjong solitaire can be played using genuine tiles and a special wooden frame for set-up. Usually though, it is played in an electronic form as a computer game. This removes the tedium of set-up and the temptation to cheatCheating
Cheating refers to the breaking of rules to gain advantage in a competitive situation. The rules infringed may be explicit, or they may be from an unwritten code of conduct based on morality, ethics or custom, making the identification of cheating a subjective process. Cheating can refer...
. Some electronic Mahjong solitaire games offer extra options, such as:
- Changing the tile set and patterns from the traditional tiles to flowers, jewels or other items that may be easier to match up at a glance
- Playing a series of different layouts with varying levels of difficulty (usually given ChineseCulture of ChinaChinese culture is one of the world's oldest and most complex. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces...
names such as 'the oxOxAn ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...
' or 'the snakeSnakeSnakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
') - Adding "wildcard tiles" and other tiles that have special functions.
These games also have an optional time limit
Time limit
A time limit or deadline is a narrow field of time, or particular point in time, by which an objective or task must be accomplished.In project management, deadlines are most often associated with milestone goals....
. They may also offer hints/cheat options such as the ability to have a match found for the player or to backtrack and undo already made moves. Additionally, most implementations of the game arrange the tiles in such a way that the game is solvable in at least one way.
Mahjong solitaire can be played either solo or with a partner, in which case the aim is to accumulate the most pairs, to be the last one to match a pair, or to score the most points. Points are gained for each pair removed, with bonus points for removing matched pairs in sequence or removing pairs in sequence that are parts of sets. Using traditional mahjong tiles, the sets include the dragons, the flowers, the seasons, and the winds (with the winds being worth the most bonus points).
Players should open up new tiles with every pair they eliminate. Choosing obvious pairs from the top levels will often end the game prematurely (i.e. lose) by leaving essential tiles under cover.
Some implementations, (GNOME Mahjongg, PySol), offer to shuffle the tiles when there are no exposed pairs remaining; letting you almost always be able to "win" the game.
History
The computer game was originally created by Brodie Lockard in 1981 on the PLATO system and named Mah-Jongg after the game that uses the same tiles for play. Lockard claims that it was based on a centuries-old Chinese game called "the Turtle". There is a children's game in China named 拆牌龜 ("Demolish the Tile Turtle") of unknown age. The computer game was released for free and was played using a CDC-721 touch screen terminal. Control Data CorporationControl Data Corporation
Control Data Corporation was a supercomputer firm. For most of the 1960s, it built the fastest computers in the world by far, only losing that crown in the 1970s after Seymour Cray left the company to found Cray Research, Inc....
released a new version as a paid online game
Online game
An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
in 1983. The first version remained available for free.
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
released Shanghai
Shanghai (video game)
Shanghai is a computer game developed by Activision in 1986 for the Amiga, MacIntosh and Apple IIgs and also the Sega Master System.-Gameplay:Shanghai is a computerized version of mahjong solitaire...
in 1986 for the Macintosh and Apple IIgs
Apple IIGS
The Apple , the fifth and most powerful model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The "GS" in the name stands for Graphics and Sound, referring to its enhanced graphics and sound capabilities, both of which greatly surpassed previous models of the line...
that the game gathered momentum. This version was also created by Brodie Lockard (programming and graphics) with Brad Fregger
Brad Fregger
Brad Fregger is an American entrepreneur, author and former game producer publisher, and book publisher.Fregger was involved in the computer and video game industry at its inception...
as the producer. The game became very successful, and around 10 million copies were sold. It has been ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to many different platforms. The name "Shanghai" was trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
ed by Activision.
As the game is based on mahjong tiles, some confusion arose with the 4-player mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...
game. Although the name mahjong solitaire is generally accepted, other names include The Turtle as well as brand names Shanghai Solitaire, Taipei, Kyodai and Moraff
Steve Moraff
Steve Moraff is a video game designer best known for a series of DOS games launched in the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Childhood and career:...
's. Taipei, originally written by David Norris in 1986, was so named as it was a "cheap clone" of Shanghai.
A version of this game was also included in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack
Microsoft Entertainment Pack
The original Microsoft Windows Entertainment Pack is a collection of simply-designed 16-bit computer games for Windows. These games were somewhat unusual for the time, in that they would not run under MS-DOS. Many of the games were later released in the Best of Windows Entertainment Pack...
for Windows 3.x
Windows 3.x
Windows 3.x can refer to either an individual or all of the following versions of Microsoft Windows:*Windows 3.0*Windows 3.1x*Windows 3.2...
in 1990 and went by the name Taipei. It was subsequently included in the Best of Windows Entertainment Pack
Best of Windows Entertainment Pack
The Best of Windows Entertainment Pack was a collection of thirteen 16-bit simple games sold separately from Windows. It was published in the Microsoft Home series of software. They were selected as the best games from the previously released Microsoft Entertainment Pack series...
. Premium editions of the Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
and Windows 7 include a version of the game known as Mahjong Titans
Mahjong Titans
Mahjong Titans is a computer game version of mahjong solitaire developed by Oberon Games and included in Windows Vista and Windows 7 Home Premium, Business/Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate, but it can run in Windows XP, too...
.
Some variations have been ported to Flash and are played online using a web browser.
See also
- Shisen-ShoShisen-Sho, sometimes referred to as 'Four Rivers' or simply 'Rivers,' is a Japanese tile-based game which uses Mahjong tiles, and is similar to Mahjong solitaire. The objective of the game is to match similar tiles in pairs until every tile has been removed from the playing field.- Rules :The aim of the...
, another solitaire game with Mahjong tiles - Other SolitaireSolitaireSolitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire....
games, especially PatiencePatience (game)Patience is a genre of tabletop games, consisting of card games that can be played by a single player. Patience games can also be played in a multiplayer fashion....
, or solitaire with cards