Play mahjong with friends

Three ways to play

Every online match is between two players, and the server deals both of you the same board so neither side gets a luckier deal. The three modes feel very different:

If the rules of mahjong solitaire are new to you, read how to play first. It takes two minutes, and every mode below builds on it.

Race

Race is the purest test of speed: the same board, played side by side. After a three-second countdown, you each clear your own copy of the deal in tray mode, where tapped tiles drop into a four-slot tray and two alike clear each other.

• You see your opponent’s progress live: the pairs they have cleared and a small outline of their board as it empties. When they are three pairs from finishing, the game tells you.
• Hint, Undo and Shuffle are off, so the race is decided by the tiles alone.
• A full tray does not end your race. Instead, every tile in your tray goes back to its place on the board and you wait 5 seconds before you can play again. If that leaves no open pair, the board reshuffles for you.
• The first to clear wins. If nobody has finished after 6 minutes, whoever cleared more pairs wins, and equal counts are a draw.

Race boards have 58 to 70 tiles, with picture tiles mixed with traditional ones, and no hidden tiles, ice or locks.

Battle

Battle puts you both on one board at the same time. There are no turns and no tray: pick two matching free tiles, as in classic mahjong solitaire, and if you get there first the pair is yours.

• Each pair scores 10 points, or 20 if it is a gold IQ+ pair.
• Picking two tiles that do not match locks you out for 1.5 seconds, so guessing costs you.
• If both players reach for the same tile, the server takes whoever arrived first. The other grab simply does not count.
• When no open pair is left, the board reshuffles itself for both players.
• The match ends when the board is clear or after 4 minutes. Most points wins; a tie goes to whoever took more pairs, and after that it is a draw.

Battle is the loudest of the three, in the best way. It rewards a quick eye more than a long plan.

Duel

Duel is mahjong solitaire as a turn-based game for two. You share one board and take turns, and on your turn you have 10 seconds to match one open pair.

• A pair scores 10 points plus one point for every whole second left on your turn clock. A quick match with 7 seconds to spare scores 17. A gold IQ+ pair doubles the 10.
• If the clock runs out, the turn passes and you take a strike. Three strikes and you forfeit.
• Duel boards always have an even number of pairs, so both players get the same number of turns when nobody runs out of time.
• When the board is clear, most points wins. A tie goes to whoever has fewer strikes, then it is a draw.

Duel is the most thoughtful mode: you can see what your move leaves open for the other player, and a careful turn can take away their easy pair.

Playing a friend

Open the game, tap Online, then Play a friend. Choose the mode and tap Create a room. You get a room code of six letters and numbers (such as KMQR7T) and a link to share. Your friend opens the link, or types the code under “or join theirs”, and the match begins.

Codes leave out characters that are easy to confuse, like 0 and O or 1 and I, so they read clearly over the phone. When the match ends you can ask for a rematch on a new board.

Matches in a room are friendly: they never change anyone’s rating, so you can play your sister twenty times in a row without worrying about it.

Playing anyone

Tap Play anyone for the quickest match in any mode, or choose Race, Battle or Duel for a match in that mode. The game looks for a player near your rating and widens the search the longer you wait.

When nobody is free for a Race after about 20 seconds, you can race a recorded run instead: a real player’s earlier game on the same board, replayed move by move. It is clearly labelled “Recorded run · not live”, and it is never passed off as a person playing right now. You can also keep waiting for a live player.

The Online screen also shows players online now. You can invite one of them to a match, and they choose Accept or Not now. An invite lapses after 20 seconds.

Friends and challenges

Every player has a permanent six-character friend code. Enter a friend’s code, or share yours, and you are linked both ways. Friends can see when the other is online, invite each other to a live match, and compare times on the Friends leaderboards.

You do not have to be online together to compete. After you clear any level or Daily, send a challenge: your friend plays the very same board and sees the time to beat. Challenges between friends stay open for 7 days. You can also share a challenge link with anyone; no account is needed to accept one.

Ratings and leaderboards

Race, Battle and Duel each have their own rating, so a fine racer can still be a beginner at Duel. Everyone starts at 1000. A win moves you up and a loss moves you down, by more when you beat someone rated above you. Your first 30 games in a mode move faster, so you find your level quickly.

• Matches from Play anyone and from invites are rated. Room matches are not.
• Races against a recorded run are not rated either.
• Resigning or leaving in the first moments of a match does not change ratings.

Each mode has a leaderboard for the world, your country and your friends. Wins also earn avatar frames: bronze at 10 wins, silver at 25 and gold at 50, with a dragon frame for the world’s top 100 in any mode.

No chat, and other quiet choices

There is no chat in Plum Mahjong. During a match you can send a few preset reactions, such as “Wow”, “Oops” and “Good game”, and nothing else, so there is nothing to moderate and nothing unkind to read.

• Names are made from a pair of words, like Quiet Crane, or typed by you and checked by a filter. A number after the name keeps players apart.
• You can report a name, and hide any player: hidden players are never matched with you and cannot invite you.
• If you decline the same person’s invites twice, they cannot invite you again for a day. They are not told.
• Turn off Show me as online or Allow game invites in Settings whenever you want a quiet game.
• Online play asks for no email and no password. You can delete your online data from Settings at any time.

Phones, tablets and computers

Online play works in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer, at plummahjong.com/play. Apps for iPhone, iPad and Android are coming soon. They are the same game and connect to the same online server, so friends can play whichever way suits them.

If your connection drops in the middle of a match, you have 20 seconds to come back. In Battle and Duel the board waits for you while you reconnect.