How to Play Mahjong Chain: Rules, Combos and Scoring

Mahjong Chain is the fastest mode on this site: an 80-tile board, 40 pairs to clear, and a window of just 4.5 seconds between one combo and the next. Keep the pace and your points multiply.

What Mahjong Chain Is

Mahjong Chain is a variation of Connect where clearing the board is not enough — you have to clear it fast. The game panel keeps three numbers in front of you at all times: the running score, the chain multiplier (Chain x1, x2, x3...) and the timer. Every pair you connect inside the window bumps the multiplier, and the next pair is worth far more.

If you are still new to the mode family, the complete guide to how to play mahjong explains where the tiles come from and how the variants differ. To jump straight in, you can play Mahjong Chain free in your browser, no download and no install.

The Board Layout

The grid is 8 rows by 10 columns, which means 80 positions. Since everything comes in pairs, there are 40 pairs to remove before the counter reads 40/40. Each tile is one of the 16 most common faces of the traditional set:

• Four winds (East, South, West, North);
• Three dragons (Red, Green and White);
• Characters (萬) 1, 5 and 9;
• Bamboos (條) 1, 5 and 9;
• Circles (筒) 1, 5 and 9.

An English label sits under each traditional symbol, so every round doubles as a lesson in tile recognition. You learn the Chinese characters without having to memorise anything beforehand.

The Connection Rule: Up to Two Turns

To clear a pair, click the first tile and then the matching one. The game looks for a path between them automatically and only accepts the pair if that path exists. The path can:

• travel through empty cells (already removed tiles) as if they were corridors;
• stay inside the board, never leaving through the edge;
• turn a corner at most twice — the classic "two turns" rule.

If the two tiles are different, or no path exists within two turns, the pair is rejected. The tile shakes and a message tells you the chain just broke.

How Scoring Works: The Chain Formula

Scoring is simple and very fair: each pair is worth 10 points multiplied by the size of your current chain. The chain starts at x1 when you connect your first pair.

• Pair with no combo: 10 × 1 = 10 points.
• Chain x2: 10 × 2 = 20 points.
• Chain x3: 10 × 3 = 30 points.
• Chain x5: 10 × 5 = 50 points per pair.
• Chain x10: 10 × 10 = 100 points from a single move.

In other words, two decent pairs can turn into an enormous score if you do not stop. A perfect run that clears all 40 pairs in one continuous chain easily goes past 8,000 points.

The 4.5 Second Window

After you connect a pair, the multiplier stays active for 4.5 seconds. Connect another pair inside that window and the chain goes up a level. Miss the window and the indicator drops back to x1 with an expiry message. That clock is what turns the mode into a rhythm game — and it is why the New game button exists: a low-scoring round is better restarted than pushed through.

What Breaks the Chain

Three actions reset the multiplier immediately:

• Clicking two different tiles. The selection moves to the new tile, but the combo starts over.
• Attempting a pair with no valid path. That is, two matching symbols that would need more than two turns.
• Asking for the hint. The Hint button reveals a pair that can be connected, but it restarts the chain as a penalty — use it only when genuinely stuck.

On top of that, if the board ever has no connectable pair left, the remaining tiles are shuffled automatically and the round continues. You never hit a dead end.

Strategy to Maximise Your Chain

Playing fast is not about grabbing the first pair you see. A simple attack order works extremely well:

• Start at the edges and corners. Perimeter tiles almost always have a clear path, so you secure the combo without thinking.
• Save the middle for a hot chain. Once the multiplier reaches x3 or more, a centre pair is worth a lot more.
• Favour tiles you recognise at a glance. Winds and dragons have very distinct artwork; hold back the ones you have not mastered for when the board is easier to read.
• Do not spend the hint to save points. The hint costs you the whole chain. Re-reading the board is cheaper.
• A wrong click is already a lost beat. If the selected tile is not what you meant, click it again to cancel the selection instead of moving to another tile.

Chain vs Connect vs Solitaire

All three modes use the same tiles but ask for different skills. In Mahjong Connect you link pairs with the same two-turn path but without any time pressure: the only goal is clearing the board. In Mahjong Solitaire you clear pairs off a three-dimensional pyramid, with no connecting and no clock. Chain merges the Connect mechanic with a timer, making it the tensest of the three — and the one that rewards visual memory practice the most.

Next Steps

To recap: 80 tiles, 40 pairs, a path with up to two turns, 4.5 seconds between combos, and scoring of 10 × chain. Open free Mahjong Chain, begin with the border pairs and hold the rhythm. If you would rather understand the classic game first, read how to play classic mahjong and the complete guide.