Questions and answers

Yes. There are no ads, no subscription and nothing to buy. Tile designs in the Collection are earned by playing.

iPhone and iPad. Play in portrait, or turn your phone sideways for a wider table. There's no Android or web version yet.

American Mahjong, the game with the Charleston, jokers and a card of hands that changes every year. It isn't Chinese, Hong Kong or Japanese riichi mahjong, and it isn't mahjong solitaire, the tile-matching puzzle.

The 2026 card.

Yes. Interactive lessons start from zero, taught by three dragon coaches. They have a story, and narration you can listen to or read, with quizzes along the way. Sections run from a quick start through the basics, how to play, and how to win. Read our guide to how a game goes too.

There are four levels, Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert, all open from your first game. Easy makes beginner mistakes and plays no defense. Medium and Hard make fewer mistakes, keep more hands in mind and defend more. Expert makes no deliberate mistakes at all. Opponents only use what a person at the table could see: exposures, discards, and what they were passed. Win often enough at one level and the app will suggest moving up.

Yes. Host a table, then send the link or the code. You play hand after hand with a running score. How tables work.

A table where nobody has to be online at the same time. The host sets how long each turn can wait: 12, 24 or 48 hours. You get a notification when it's your turn, and when a discard you could call is waiting. Make your move whenever it suits you. It's ideal for friends in different time zones.

Yes. Choose House Rules, which adds 6 blanks and 2 extra jokers to the set (160 tiles). On your turn, after you draw, you can trade a blank for any tile in the discard pile except a joker. Set it as your default in Settings → Game rules → Scoring, pick it when you start a solo game, or have the host pick it for a table. Playing with blanks.

A free puzzle every day, in The Daily on Home and Play. Three hands from this year's card are mixed across three racks of 14 tiles. Drag tiles between racks until a rack is a winning hand, then call Mahjong on it. You have four lives, and a wrong Mahjong costs one. Hints are there if you want them, but they add time, and a solve with no hints ranks above any solve that used one. Then see where you placed among your friends and everyone else. A new Shuffle starts at midnight Arizona time.

No. Without an account you can play solo, take the lessons, do the Daily Shuffle, and join or host a table from a link or code. Sign in with Apple to add friends, pick a name and an @handle, invite friends straight to a table, and get a row on the Daily leaderboards. You can delete your account from Settings at any time.

Yes. In Settings → Accessibility, set Tile numbers and App text to Large, each on its own. New installs start with large tile numbers. You'll also find light and dark mode and six color palettes, and the app follows your phone's Reduce Motion setting. On the game board, turn your phone sideways for a wider table.

No. Mahjong Alley is an independent app made by Elevate Games LLC. It isn't affiliated with or endorsed by the National Mah Jongg League, which publishes the official card. To play at a real table you need your own card, sold by the League.

In the app, use Settings or the bell at the top left; our reply comes back to the same place. Or email hey@mahjongalley.com.