When no moves remain in Mahjong Solitaire, none of the free tiles match. You have three choices: undo some moves and try a different order, shuffle the remaining tiles, or start a new game. Every deal on this site starts out solvable, so getting stuck means an earlier match blocked the way. It is a normal part of the game, even on easy layouts.
Why you get stuck
Most stuck boards come from one of these:
- A tile is buried under its own match. You cannot reach the lower tile until the upper one is gone, and the upper one needs a partner.
- The last two copies are both blocked. You used the other two earlier, and now the remaining pair is locked up.
- You cleared the wrong edge. A long row can only open from its ends.
Option 1: Undo
Undo is the most useful choice if you want to learn from the position. Step back until you find a move with another option, and try that instead. Our undo has no limit.
Option 2: Shuffle
Shuffle rearranges the tiles left on the board. On this site, it creates a new arrangement that can still be cleared whenever that is possible. If the remaining tiles cannot be arranged that way, the game tells you, and you can undo or start again.
Shuffling clears your undo history, since the tiles have moved.
Option 3: New game
Sometimes it is simply time for a fresh board. Your statistics keep counting only the boards you clear, so nothing is lost.
Are these boards always winnable?
Not every Mahjong Solitaire game on the web is. In a purely random deal, some boards have no solution. Our deals are made differently: we choose a way to clear the board first, then place the tiles to fit it. So a solution always exists at the start. You may still take a different route that gets stuck. We test 1,000 deals per layout whenever the code changes.
How to get stuck less
- Clear tall stacks before you clear edges.
- Before matching, check whether either tile covers a copy of itself.
- If all four copies of a tile are free, take them.
More strategy tips explain these in full.