Strawberry Mahjong Solitaire

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About the Strawberry Layout

The Strawberry board is one of the more charming silhouettes in the collection. The tiles fill a plump heart-shaped body that swells wide across the middle and then narrows to a single rounded point at the bottom, exactly the way a real berry tapers toward its tip. Crowning the top is a small jagged cluster of tiles standing in for the leafy green cap, a ragged little star that sits proud of the main body. From a distance the whole arrangement reads instantly as a strawberry, and the rounded curves mean almost no two edges meet at a hard right angle, giving the layout a soft, organic look that is easy on the eyes.

Playing the Strawberry feels comfortably mid-weight, a true 3 out of 5. The fat belly of the berry holds the bulk of the tiles in gently stacked rows, so there is plenty of room to work and you rarely feel cornered early on. The difficulty creeps in because the rounded body keeps many of its inner tiles flanked on both the left and right, so free ends are a little scarcer than the open footprint suggests. It is a board that rewards patience rather than punishing mistakes, and most players will find a steady, satisfying rhythm of clears without ever feeling truly stuck.

Difficulty: Hard (3/5) | Tiles: 136

How to Clear the Strawberry Layout

Start at the leafy cap. That jagged crown of tiles on top is almost entirely exposed along its upper and outer edges, so it is your richest early source of free tiles. Clearing the cap first also peels weight off the shoulders of the berry and starts opening the rounded top of the body underneath, which is where the real board begins.

Work the curved outline next. Because the strawberry bulges outward, the tiles forming the left and right edges of the belly each have one open side from the start. Sweep these flanks in matched pairs to keep both sides shrinking evenly. Avoid the temptation to dig straight down the centre, where tiles are blocked on both sides and will not free up until the curves around them come away.

The crux of the Strawberry is the wide middle band. This is the densest part of the board, and a tile buried here can be pinned left and right by neighbours that look removable but are not yet. Before you commit a match, glance at what each removal exposes, and prefer the pairing that opens a fresh tile over one that merely tidies an already-free edge. Keep at least one spare matched pair in reserve so you are never forced into a dead move.

The endgame is the narrow tip. As the body drains, tiles funnel down toward that single rounded point at the bottom, and the final stack there can only be unstacked from the top down. Save a flexible match, a flower or a season is ideal since flowers match any flower and seasons match any season, for this closing run. If the tip ever looks locked, remember the Shuffle button re-deals the remaining tiles into a fresh solvable arrangement, so a true dead end is never permanent.

The Story Behind the Strawberry Layout

The garden strawberry is a botanical trickster. What we eat as the juicy red fruit is not a fruit at all in the strict sense; it is a swollen flower base, and the real fruits are the tiny seed-like specks dotting the surface, each one a separate dried nutlet. That jagged green cap, the calyx, is the only part botanists let off lightly, and it is the detail that makes the berry instantly recognisable even in silhouette.

All of that translates beautifully into a Mahjong shape. The heart-and-point body gives a generous, symmetrical field for the tiles, while the spiky little crown breaks up the smooth curves with a touch of welcome irregularity. The result is a board that is friendly and inviting to look at, sweet enough to suit its subject, yet just textured enough at the top to keep the eye and the hand busy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where should I make my very first move on the Strawberry board?

Go straight for the green leafy cap at the top. Its tiles are exposed on their outer edges from the start, making them the easiest pairs to remove, and clearing them immediately begins to open the rounded top of the berry's body beneath.

Why does the centre of the strawberry feel stuck even when the board looks open?

The rounded body packs its tiles tightly, so most central pieces are blocked on both the left and right at once. They only free up after you remove the tiles forming the curved edges around them. Clear the flanks first and the middle opens naturally.

Is the Strawberry layout always winnable?

Yes. Every board is generated by working backwards from a fully solved arrangement, so a complete solution always exists. If you run out of moves, the Shuffle button re-deals the remaining tiles into another solvable layout.

How hard is the Strawberry compared with other boards?

It sits right in the middle at 3 out of 5. The wide belly gives you space and forgiveness, but the rounded edges make free tiles a little scarcer than they first appear, so it asks for patience rather than speed.

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