How to play Hungry Ghost Mahjong
Classic mahjong solitaire, except a ghost is trying to clear the same board you are. Match tiles, outscore it, and get out before it eats everything worth taking.
The basics
Every board is built from mahjong tiles laid out in overlapping layers. A tile is free when nothing sits on top of it and at least one long side, left or right, is open. Tap two free tiles with the same face to clear them both.
Dimmed tiles are blocked. As you clear pairs, tiles underneath and beside them open up, so which pair you take first changes what becomes available next. That decision, not speed alone, is most of the game.
Game modes
Ghost Duel
The main mode. You have 2 minutes 30 seconds. The ghost plays the same board at the same time, and every few seconds it reaches for a pair, shown by two glowing teal tiles. You can:
- Ward it off by tapping either glowing tile before the glow fills. The ghost loses that turn. You start with 3 wards, and earn one back every 40 seconds.
- Steal the pair by matching it yourself first. You get the points, but only a quarter of a normal pair's value, since the ghost did the thinking, not you.
With one minute left, crunch time begins: the ghost moves much faster. Choose the ghost's mood before you start: Calm, Swift, or Fierce.
Séance
No clock, and no daily leaderboard, just a slower, thinking version of the game to practice on. You and the ghost take turns, one pair each, and you go first. Every pair is worth points by its tiles: ones and nines score double, winds triple, dragons quadruple, everything else normal. The ghost always takes the most valuable free pair, then whichever pair opens up the most new tiles, so the game is really about deciding what your move exposes for its next turn, not just about copying whatever it's about to take.
Zen
No ghost, just you and the board, at whichever pressure level you choose:
| Level | Clock | Shuffles | Hints |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calm | None, counts up | 1 | 2 |
| Sharp | 4:00 countdown | 1 | 1 |
| Ruthless | 3:00 countdown | 0 | 0 |
Clear the whole board in under a minute and you get a flat 1,000 point speed bonus, on top of your regular score.
Play a Friend
A live, turn-based match against a real person instead of the ghost, using the same rules as Séance. Create an invite link from the menu and send it to a friend. There's no open chat, only a set of preset phrases like "Nice one!" and "Ward that!", so nothing you send is ever free text.
Today's Haunt
One board a day, the same for everyone, reset at midnight New York time. Sign in to appear on the leaderboard, and the top score at reset is named that day's champion. You get 3 free tries a day.
How scoring works
Every pair you clear is worth points made of three parts:
- 30% just for claiming the pair.
- 50% for choice quality: how many new tiles that pair opens up, compared to the best pair you could have taken instead.
- 20% for tempo: matching quickly earns the full bonus, which fades out over the following seconds.
A hint shows you the smartest pair on the board, but taking a hinted pair only scores half, so hints cost you something.
Ghosts of friends
After a ranked run, sharing your result creates a link that carries a snapshot of your actual moves. Whoever opens it faces your exact board, replayed as an opposing ghost using your real choices and timing. It's not a live match, just your own play coming back to challenge someone else.
Play now