Mahjong Link – Free Connect Puzzle

Mahjong Link—also called Mahjong Connect—is a path puzzle. Match identical tiles only when an empty route can join them with no more than two right-angle turns. The playable Classic Link board is built and hosted by MahjongWiki.

This is not a layered open-side puzzle and it is not four-player mahjong. The central skill is seeing routes through a changing grid.

How to play Mahjong Link

Select one tile, then an identical partner. The pair clears if a path can connect them using no more than three straight line segments: straight across, around one corner, or around two corners. Other tiles cannot occupy the route.

On desktop, use the mouse. On a phone or tablet, tap the two tiles. A successful legal match removes the pair immediately. If the pair remains, the symbols may differ or the route may require too many turns.

Clear the complete board to finish. Some versions add a timer or level targets, so the interface shown by the featured game takes priority over generic connect rules.

Understand the two-turn rule

Think of a legal path as one of three shapes:

• a straight line with zero turns;
• an L shape with one turn;
• a squared U or Z route with two turns.

Anything that needs a third corner is blocked. The path can travel only through empty cells and, in many connect layouts, around the empty outer border. Edge tiles are therefore especially powerful: they can often connect by routing outside the crowded grid.

Do not judge only by visual distance. Two far-apart edge tiles may connect easily, while adjacent interior tiles can be blocked on every valid route.

Clear the perimeter, then build lanes

Begin with identical pairs on corners and outer rows. Each removal extends the empty border inward. Next, look for pairs aligned with the new gap. This creates a deliberate sequence: edge match, open lane, interior match.

Long continuous lanes are more valuable than scattered single holes. If two legal pairs are available, prefer the one that joins empty spaces or opens a column toward the center. A random gap may help one move; a lane can enable several.

Recheck the full board after every few matches. A pair that was impossible can become legal without either tile moving because the obstruction between them has disappeared.

Use corners as turning space

A connection needs empty cells at its bends. Corners and intersections in the empty grid provide that turning room. Protect useful junctions until difficult interior tiles have escaped.

When planning a pair, trace the route mentally from the first tile: out to a free lane, across, then back to its match. If you already used two corners before reaching the partner’s row or column, the path cannot succeed.

This mental tracing is faster than clicking every possible pair and helps once a timer becomes important.

When the board looks stuck

Scan the outside border first, then every row for identical tiles with a clear horizontal line, and finally every column. After that, look for two-turn routes through large empty areas.

Use a hint only after this systematic scan. The useful lesson is the path, not just the symbols: compare the highlighted positions and trace the legal corridor yourself. Reserve Shuffle for a genuine no-route state.

Mahjong Link versus Mahjong Solitaire

Mahjong Solitaire asks whether a tile is uncovered and open on one side. Mahjong Link asks whether two identical tiles can be connected through empty space. A piece completely surrounded in Link may become usable as soon as a narrow path opens; there is no layered free-tile test unless the specific game adds one.

Traditional mahjong is different again. It uses hands, draws, discards, melds, and scoring. The types of mahjong guide separates those table variants from digital link, slide, triple-match, and solitaire formats.

About this browser build

Classic Link is original MahjongWiki code served from the same domain as this guide. It loads inside the page without a third-party launcher, advertising, external navigation, or provider-controlled availability.