Mahjong Bird Tiles

Mahjong Bird Tiles is mahjong solitaire in its plain form: a layered board of tiles, cleared two at a time. The developer bills it as relaxing, and the name points to a bird theme, although the developer says little else about the artwork.

What it does spell out is the rule for which tiles you may take. A tile is free when nothing sits on top of it and at least one of its sides is open. Only free tiles can be matched, and only with an identical partner. Because the boards are stacked, a tile that looks like a match may still be covered, or hemmed in on both sides. The one piece of advice offered is that picking the right match matters, and with layers involved that is easy to believe. Empty the board and the level is complete.

With a mouse or touchpad, click a free tile, then click another free tile that matches it. A free tile has nothing on top and at least one open side. The matched pair is removed from the board. Keep pairing until every tile on the layered board has gone, and the level is complete. Then the next board follows.

Look beyond the top layer. Taking a tile off the stack can free whatever lay beneath it or beside it, so before you click, check whether one match would make another tile available. If three matching tiles are free at the same moment, which two you take decides what opens up next.

A pair-matching mahjong solitaire game with layered boards, shown in a landscape frame. Input is by mouse or touchpad, according to the developer. Boards are completed level by level, but the number of levels is not given.

Jungle Mahjong also pairs tiles level by level, but only asks that a tile be open on its left or right. Mahjong Solitaire: World Tour uses the same covered-or-open rule while moving between cities.