Fruits Mahjong

Fruits Mahjong strips the classic tile game down to its one useful rule. Tiles come in pairs, and a tile is only playable when its left or right edge is clear - anything boxed in on both sides has to wait until its neighbours go. That single restriction is what turns a board of pineapples and cherries into a genuine problem.

The clock is the other half. It is running from the first tile, so a long stare at the board costs you as surely as a wrong guess would. Hints are there when you stall, but both the seconds you save and the hints you never touch come back as bonus points, which makes finishing fast worth more than finishing safe.

How to play

Find two tiles showing the same fruit and select them one after the other to remove both. Only tiles with an open left or right side can be picked, so a tile wedged between two others is off limits until one of them clears. Work at the edges first to keep options opening up, and call on a hint if you genuinely cannot find a pair - though every hint you leave unused pays you back at the end.

Controls

Mouse or touchpad on desktop, a finger on mobile. Click the first tile to select it, then click its match to take the pair off the board; clicking the same tile again deselects it.