Crab Mahjong Solitaire
About the Crab Layout
The Crab is a broad, busy layout of 122 tiles built around an oval shell, with two prominent claws reaching out in front and six legs splayed beneath. It earns its 3 out of 5 difficulty honestly: the width of the figure means tiles are spread across a large area, and the dense shell in the center holds enough stacking to make the back half of the game a careful affair. The first impression is of a creature crowded with detail, claws and legs and carapace all competing for your attention at once.
Playing the Crab feels like working a puzzle that pulls you outward and then back in. The legs and the tips of the claws give you a generous supply of free tiles to begin with, so the opening moves come easily and the board seems to melt at the edges. The shell is where the real work waits. Because so many of the legs feed into the body, the order in which you clear the periphery decides how cleanly you can open the carapace, and that is what gives this layout its satisfying middle-game tension.
Difficulty: Hard (3/5) | Tiles: 122
How to Clear the Crab Layout
Begin with the leg tips and claw points. The six legs each end in an exposed tile, and the two claws have free tiles at their pincers, so there is no shortage of safe opening moves. Clearing the leg ends first peels the figure inward and exposes where each leg attaches to the shell.
Do not rush the shell. The oval carapace is the densest, most-stacked region of the board, and if you strip the legs without keeping matches in hand, you can reach the shell with nothing free to play against its upper layers. Work the legs and claws down while deliberately holding a pair or two in reserve for the body.
The crux is the junction where the claws and the front legs meet the shell. These tiles are blocked on multiple sides because the limbs converge there, and they are the most common place to stall. Clear from the claw tips back toward the body and from the legs inward, so the convergence points open last rather than trapping a tile.
In the endgame you will be excavating the center of the shell from the top down. Keep track of the four copies of each tile across the whole carapace, since matches there may be far apart. Flowers match any flower and seasons match any season, so use those wild-like pairs to break a logjam in the shell, and reach for Shuffle if the remaining tiles refuse to come apart.
The Story Behind the Crab Layout
A crab is mostly armor and leverage: the hard oval shell that protects it and the oversized claws it uses to feed and fight. This layout foregrounds exactly those two traits, giving the claws real prominence and treating the shell as the solid heart of the design. The six legs splayed beneath complete the sideways, scuttling stance that makes a crab instantly recognizable, the low and wide profile of an animal built to move along the seabed rather than up through the water.
There is a nice correspondence between the crab's anatomy and the way the puzzle plays. Just as a real crab tucks everything vulnerable under its carapace, the hardest tiles of this layout are sheltered inside the shell, reached only after you have worked through the limbs that guard them. The board asks you to dismantle the crab the way you might actually take one apart, legs and claws first, body last.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes the Crab a 3 out of 5 difficulty?
It is a large board at 122 tiles, and the oval shell in the middle is heavily stacked. The challenge is not the opening, which is easy, but managing the transition from the limbs into the dense carapace without running out of free matches.
What is the best first move on the Crab?
Clear the six leg tips and the points of the two claws. These are all exposed tiles, and removing them peels the figure inward toward the shell where the harder tiles live.
Why do I keep getting stuck near the claws?
The spots where the claws and front legs join the shell are blocked on several sides because the limbs converge there. Clear from the claw tips and leg ends back toward the body so those junctions open last instead of trapping tiles.
Can flower and season tiles help me clear the shell?
Yes. Any flower matches any other flower and any season matches any other season, so these tiles are easier to pair than suited tiles. Save them for moments when the stacked shell leaves you short of obvious matches.
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