Fish Mahjong Solitaire
About the Fish Layout
The Fish glides across the table as a smooth, rounded body trailing into a flowing tail fin, a friendly 110-tile layout that is one of the gentlest boards in the Animals set. The body is a broad oval of tiles, mostly laid flat or in shallow single layers so very little stays buried, while the tail flares out behind it as a fan of pieces that spread toward the edge to suggest motion through water. A few tiles often mark the eye and the line of the mouth at the front, giving the shape personality. At 2 out of 5 difficulty it is squarely a relaxing, beginner-friendly board, forgiving of mistakes and rarely prone to hard locks.
Playing the Fish feels breezy and low-stress. Because most of the body sits in a single layer, a large number of tiles are free or nearly free from the very start, so you almost always have several matches to choose from and seldom feel cornered. The shape comes apart cleanly, the tail tends to dissolve first as its outer fronds are picked off, then the body opens up from the edges inward. It is an ideal board for a calm sitting, for newer players learning to spot pairs, or for anyone who just wants the steady satisfaction of watching a shape melt away without much resistance.
Difficulty: Medium (2/5) | Tiles: 110
How to Clear the Fish Layout
Start with the tail fronds. The outer tips of the flared tail fin are the most exposed tiles on the board, and clearing them first both opens up easy matches and begins narrowing the shape from the back. Because the tail is mostly a thin fan, it rarely hides tiles underneath, so you can clear it confidently without worrying about stranding partners below.
Even though the body is shallow, work it from its outer rim inward rather than poking at the center. Edge tiles on a flat oval are free on at least one side, so chewing around the perimeter steadily exposes the interior. This keeps your options wide and avoids the rare situation where you isolate a couple of center tiles with no free neighbor.
The crux on such an easy board is simply matching efficiently rather than getting stuck, so when you see two pairs of the same symbol available, prefer to clear the pair that frees up the most additional tiles. Use flower and season tiles whenever they appear, since any flower pairs with any flower and any season with any season, they are essentially free moves that let you keep the board loosening up.
The endgame is usually a small cluster in the middle of the body, and it tends to resolve on its own as the surrounding tiles vanish. In the uncommon event you do stall, the Shuffle button re-deals the remaining tiles into another solvable arrangement, but on the Fish you will rarely need it.
The Story Behind the Fish Layout
Fish are among the most auspicious of all symbols in Chinese culture, where the word for fish sounds like the word for surplus or abundance, making them a wish for prosperity and plenty year after year. A fish gliding freely through water also stands for ease, freedom and harmony, which suits a board designed to be calm and unhurried. The flowing tail, drawn here as a spreading fan of tiles, is the classic way to show a fish in graceful motion rather than at rest.
The rounded body and the little eye and mouth at the front give the layout a gentle, approachable character that matches its low difficulty. There is a long tradition of fish imagery in painting and decoration precisely because the shape is so simple and pleasing to the eye, an unbroken curve that reads instantly as alive. Clearing the Fish has that same uncomplicated charm, a smooth shape that comes apart as smoothly as it swims.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Fish a good layout for beginners?
Yes, it is one of the best starting points in the Animals set. At 2 out of 5 difficulty, with most of the body in a single flat layer, a large share of tiles are free from the outset, so you always have moves and rarely hit a hard lock. It is ideal for learning to spot matching pairs.
What should I clear first?
The tail. The outer fronds of the flared tail fin are the most exposed tiles and almost never hide pieces beneath them, so picking them off first is safe and opens up the board from the back. After the tail, work around the rim of the body inward.
Why do I almost never get stuck on this board?
Because the body is mostly one layer deep, very few tiles are buried, which means far more pairs are reachable at any moment than on a tall, stacked layout. The Fish is deliberately forgiving, so dead ends are rare and usually resolve themselves as you keep matching.
Do I ever need the Shuffle button on the Fish?
Rarely, but it is there if you need it. Every deal is generated backwards from a solved board, so a solution always exists, and if the last few body tiles ever lock up, Shuffle re-deals the remaining tiles into a new solvable arrangement.
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