A pumpkin on the harvest table
Our Thanksgiving board stacks the tiles into a round pumpkin, stem and all, on a warm brown table. It plays like any mahjong solitaire game: match two identical free tiles to take them off, and clear the whole pumpkin to win.
It is a good game for the long weekend: quiet enough to play while the kitchen is busy, and short enough to finish before someone calls you to the table. A board takes most people ten to fifteen minutes.
How to play
- Click or tap a free tile. A tile is free when nothing sits on top of it and its left or right side is open.
- Click its twin. If the faces match, both tiles come off the board.
- Any flower matches any flower, and any season matches any season.
- Keep going until the pumpkin is gone. Use Hint if you are stuck, and Undo as often as you like.
The pumpkin is widest across the middle, and those long rows only open from the ends. Clear the stem and the top of the stack first, then work the middle rows in from both sides.
Mahjong at the family table
If your family has a mahjong set tucked away somewhere, the holiday is a good time to bring it out. The four-player game needs about half an hour to learn, and our guide on how to play mahjong walks through a first hand step by step. With only two of you, try one of the setups in mahjong for two players.
Questions
Can every Thanksgiving board be cleared?
Yes. Like all our boards, the pumpkin is dealt so that at least one order of moves clears it. If you run out of moves, undo a few and try another pair, or shuffle the tiles that are left.
Is it free?
Yes, and there is nothing to download or sign up for. It works on computers, tablets and phones.
Are there other holiday boards?
Yes. There is a Christmas tree and a winter snowflake, and all of them stay up year-round. See them all on our holiday mahjong page.