Guide
The 6 Mahjong Solitaire Board Layouts, Compared
Published July 13, 2026
Level mode is built from 6 named layouts — Standard, Fortress, Two Hills, Waves, Stairs, and Ziggurat. Click "New Game" and pick whichever one you're in the mood for; the run then cycles through the other five automatically as you clear levels, looping back to the start once it's been through all 6. They're not ordered easiest-to-hardest — tile count here is mostly a length dial (a quick few minutes vs. a longer sit-down session) rather than a difficulty ramp, since the shapes differ enough in structure that a smaller board isn't automatically the easier one. Here's what each actually looks like, and what it's like to sit down and play it. The photo on each entry is a real screenshot of that exact board, not a stock illustration.
| Layout | Tiles | Layers | Length | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stairs | 74 | 4 | Quick | Linear ramp, no radial taper to read |
| Waves | 76 | 2 | Quick | 4 flat bands, almost nothing buried deep |
| Fortress | 80 | 3 | Mid | Twin ramparts + a hollow moat |
| Two Hills | 100 | 3 | Mid | Two independent peaks, one steep valley |
| Standard | 144 | 8 | Full | Tapers to a single-tile peak, 143/144-tile scale |
| Ziggurat | 162 | 5 | Full | Deepest stack, 5 concentric tiers |
The 6 Layouts
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Standard — 144 tiles
The classic turtle-shaped mound with two side handles — the layout every Mahjong Solitaire player learns first, and the only one here that lands on the traditional 143/144-tile count real physical sets use. Eight layers, tapering all the way down to a single tile dead center at the peak.
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Fortress — 80 tiles
Two ramparts joined by a narrow bridge, with hollow moats flanking the crossing. The four corner towers stack the highest, so the corners stay covered the longest while the bridge itself clears early.
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Two Hills — 100 tiles
Twin peaks separated by a steep valley — you can clear one side almost entirely without ever touching the other, which makes it a good board for practicing "commit to a section" rather than scanning the whole layout at once.
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Waves — 76 tiles
Four rippling tiers that crest toward the center, like rows of breaking surf. Only 2 layers deep despite the tile count, so almost every tile is reachable from above — the row gaps are what create the blocking, not stacked height.
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Stairs — 74 tiles
A single unbroken staircase rising from a jagged low edge to a tall peak. The smallest of the 6 — every other layout tapers inward from all sides, but this one only climbs in one direction, so there's no radial shape to read, just a straight ramp.
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Ziggurat — 162 tiles
Concentric rings climbing toward a central spire, like a stepped temple viewed from above. The biggest and deepest of the 6, with 5 full tiers instead of the usual 3–4 — the ring-within-a-ring silhouette is the most visually distinct shape in the set.
Express Mode: 3 Smaller Layouts
Express doesn't progress through a sequence — each round picks one of these 3 shapes at random, sized for a round you can clear in a couple of minutes.
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Spark — 36 tiles
The smallest board in the game, a tight diamond-like burst. Small enough to take in at a single glance before your first move.
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Nugget — 38 tiles
A compact rectangular taper — essentially a miniature Standard mound, scaled down to Express size.
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Coin — 42 tiles
The largest Express shape, but only 2 layers deep — like Waves above, the challenge is almost entirely lateral rather than about digging through cover.
New to the rules themselves rather than the shapes? Start with the complete beginner's guide.
More Guides
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How to Play Mahjong Solitaire: A Complete Beginner's Guide
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Mahjong Solitaire Stuck? What "No More Moves" Means
Why boards get stuck, why every board here is guaranteed solvable, and when to reach for Shuffle, Undo, or Hint.
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What Do Mahjong Tiles Mean?
A complete guide to all 34 symbols — the suits, the Winds, the Dragons, and what's not in this tile set.