Review: Pretty Good Mahjongg
At a Glance
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How to Save and Pause:Your progress is automatically saved to your profile as you play. If you ever actually need to pause, pressing ESC or selecting Pause from the Action Menu will stop the timer and hide the tiles. Press ESC again to resume playing. Time needed per session:This varies according to the game you're playing. Some modes can be finished in under five minutes, others can take up to half an hour to complete. But, thanks to the ability to save whenever, you can just play this title whenever you have some free time.
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Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians Mahjongg, even when played in some of the unique ways this game offers, doesn't contain anything worth worrying about. There aren't even questionable sets available for this version! |
Screenshots
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/pretty_good_mahjongg_0.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/pretty_good_mahjongg_1.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/pretty_good_mahjongg_2.jpg)
Game Overview
Back in 1995, GoodSol released their elaborate take on solitaire card games. Almost a decade later, they released another game for single players, this time focusing on Mahjongg. Like their card game, Pretty Good Mahjongg attempts to provide something for everyone by providing a number of ways to play with Mahjongg tiles.
In traditional Mahjongg solitaire, players remove tiles from the board by matching them. Most of the tiles need to match both their value and suit (ie, the 8 of Bamboo can only be matched with another 8 of Bamboo). The Seasons and Flower groups are the exceptions, as any Flower can be matched with any other Flower, and any Season tile matches with any Season tile. Of course, you can only match tiles that are considered "free" - ie, at least one side is exposed. Clear the entire board, and you win.
Games offering traditional Mahjongg solitaire are a dime a dozen though, so to be a quality Mahjongg title, there needs to be something unique about it. In this case, it's a slew of alternative games. There are tile-based variations of famous card games, like Klondike, Freecell, Gaps, and Spider solitaire. There's also an option to play a Memory or Collapse like game using these tiles. Lastly, the popular Mahjongg games Four Rivers (aka Shisen-Sho) and Wall games are represented with multiple variants each.
This is a lot for a single game to offer, and I haven't even mentioned some of its other features, like online leaderboards, custom tileset support, and the fact that it's incredibly light on system resources compared to many other games out there.
Unfortunately, this does come at a price - and a rather steep one at that. But, if you're willing to pay, this is a quality game that has withstood the test of time.
In traditional Mahjongg solitaire, players remove tiles from the board by matching them. Most of the tiles need to match both their value and suit (ie, the 8 of Bamboo can only be matched with another 8 of Bamboo). The Seasons and Flower groups are the exceptions, as any Flower can be matched with any other Flower, and any Season tile matches with any Season tile. Of course, you can only match tiles that are considered "free" - ie, at least one side is exposed. Clear the entire board, and you win.
Games offering traditional Mahjongg solitaire are a dime a dozen though, so to be a quality Mahjongg title, there needs to be something unique about it. In this case, it's a slew of alternative games. There are tile-based variations of famous card games, like Klondike, Freecell, Gaps, and Spider solitaire. There's also an option to play a Memory or Collapse like game using these tiles. Lastly, the popular Mahjongg games Four Rivers (aka Shisen-Sho) and Wall games are represented with multiple variants each.
This is a lot for a single game to offer, and I haven't even mentioned some of its other features, like online leaderboards, custom tileset support, and the fact that it's incredibly light on system resources compared to many other games out there.
Unfortunately, this does come at a price - and a rather steep one at that. But, if you're willing to pay, this is a quality game that has withstood the test of time.
Points of Interest
Hundreds of layouts
When it comes to Mahjongg games, a "layout" refers how the tiles are positioned at the beginning of a solitaire game. Most Mahjongg games only feature the classic or traditional layout, but Pretty Good Mahjongg features over 350 different puzzles, and you're free to pick whichever one you want to play.
Multiple tilesets - you can even make your own!
Four tilesets are provided along with the game: two versions of the classic Mahjongg tileset, a set based on playing cards, and a very simple design that can help people who have trouble recognizing the tiles. More tilesets are available on the homepage and may be freely downloaded, and a blank tileset is also provided so you can even make your own custom designs.
No penalties for hints
Every game in this title features unlimited undo/redos, as well as the ability to restart a game or display hints. You can use these at any time, for free. That's more than can be said of many Mahjongg games these days.
Concerns and Issues
Nothing to worry about
Mahjongg is a simple game about matching tiles; the only way for this to become an issue is if the tiles show something offensive, and there aren't any tilesets with questionable images available. Of course, you could make your own offensive tileset, but playing with it would be entirely your own fault.