Hungry Ghost Mahjong

About Hungry Ghost Mahjong

Hungry Ghost Mahjong takes the usual mahjong solitaire layout of stacked tiles and puts a rival on it. While you match free pairs, a ghost reaches for pairs of its own every few seconds, and the higher score wins when the clock runs out or no matches remain. The game is made and run by Klchure LLC, a company in Wyoming.

The daily board is called Today's haunt. Everyone gets the same layout that day, and the best score when the board changes at midnight New York time is added to the champions list. Signing in with Google puts your name and score on the daily leaderboard; the free daily allowance of tries can be topped up with a purchase, which only buys more attempts.

A round lasts two and a half minutes. Tiles the ghost is about to take glow teal, and tapping one of them before the glow fills wards it off, though you have only three wards and they come back slowly. You can also steal the ghost's pair by matching it yourself, for a quarter of the points. Pairs that free up more tiles score more, quick matches earn a bonus, and a hint shows a good pair at half its value. With a minute left the ghost speeds up.

Outside the daily there are three modes. Ghost duel is the timed race. Séance has no clock: you and a predictable ghost take turns, one pair each, and tile values decide the score. Zen drops the ghost and sets a pressure level instead. There are three board shapes (Bloom, Lotus and Pyramid) and three ghost speeds, and you can send a friend an invite link for a turn-based match.

It suits players who know mahjong solitaire and want it faster and with something at stake, in a round short enough for a break.

How to play Hungry Ghost Mahjong

1. Open ghostmahjong.com and choose Today's haunt to play the shared daily board.
2. Tap two free tiles with the same face to clear them; a tile is free when nothing sits on it and its left or right side is open.
3. Watch for the two tiles glowing teal: the ghost is reaching for that pair.
4. Tap a glowing tile before its glow fills to ward the ghost off, or match the pair yourself to steal it for fewer points.
5. Keep matching until the 2:30 clock runs out or no pairs remain; the higher score wins, and your daily score goes to the leaderboard.

Screenshots

Tips

• Prefer pairs that open up more tiles: they score more and leave you more choices.
• Save a ward for the last minute, when the ghost speeds up and on Swift and Fierce can strike twice in a row.
• A tile you have selected is safe from the ghost, so selecting one half of a pair you want protects it.
• Hints cost half the pair's points, so use them only when you are stuck.

Questions