Pentagon Mahjong Solitaire

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About the Pentagon Layout

The Pentagon layout builds its tiles into a regular five-sided polygon: a flat horizontal base across the bottom, two walls rising at gentle angles, and the whole shape resolving into a single peak at the top, like the clean outline of a child's drawing of a house. The base is the widest and most densely tiled part of the board, the sides thin as they climb, and the apex narrows to just a tile or two stacked at the very top. There is a pleasing symmetry to it, the left and right halves mirroring each other, which makes the whole thing easy to read at a glance.

This is a moderate, 3 out of 5 challenge that rewards calm, methodical play rather than speed. The shape is forgiving in that almost every tile sits on an exposed edge somewhere, but the dense base hides a fair number of tiles beneath stacked layers, and the narrow apex can lock if you ignore it. It feels balanced and unhurried, a good board for an evening when you want a real game without a brutal fight. Players who enjoy a tidy, geometric outline rather than a sprawling creature or object tend to come back to the Pentagon often.

Difficulty: Hard (3/5) | Tiles: 88

How to Clear the Pentagon Layout

Your free tiles cluster along the two slanted sides and the outer ends of the base, where the angled walls leave plenty of left-or-right exposure. Start there. The sloping edges are the easiest place to make early matches and they peel away cleanly, gradually thinning each wall without disturbing the structure underneath.

Open the apex early. The point at the top is usually a small stack of just a few tiles, and because it is narrow it has very little room to breathe, if you leave it until late it can become a bottleneck where the last matching tile is buried under its own partner. Clearing the peak in the first third of the game keeps your options wide open and prevents an awkward dead spot up high.

The crux is the dense base. Underneath the bottom rows sit the tiles with the least exposure, capped from above and pinned on both sides by the walls. Work inward from the base ends toward the center, always making sure you are not sealing a tile you will later need. Whenever two tiles you can match are both currently free, take that pair rather than gambling on a future opening.

For the endgame you want the base center to be the last thing standing, fully exposed once the walls and apex are gone. If you find yourself stuck with matchable tiles trapped under others, use Shuffle. Every deal is solvable and Shuffle re-deals the remaining tiles into another solvable arrangement, so it is a genuine reset rather than a last resort.

The Story Behind the Pentagon Layout

The pentagon is one of the most quietly fascinating shapes in geometry. A regular pentagon is the simplest regular polygon whose diagonals form a five-pointed star inside it, and it is woven through nature and design, from the cross-section of an apple core to the panels of a classic soccer ball to the floor plan of the famous building that shares its name. Its five-fold symmetry cannot tile a flat plane on its own, which is part of what makes it feel special and a little mysterious compared to the humble square or triangle.

As a Mahjong board the pentagon is a smart pick because its mix of a broad base and a single peak gives the play a natural arc, you start wide and easy and finish tight and focused. The clean house-like silhouette is instantly recognizable, and the mirror symmetry means both halves play in a satisfyingly similar rhythm, a calm and orderly canvas for the tiles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I clear the Pentagon from the top down or the bottom up?

Neither extreme works best. Open the narrow apex early so it does not lock, then work the two slanted sides downward while peeling the base in from its outer ends. The goal is to leave the exposed center of the base for last, since it is the part with the most room to breathe.

Why do my matches dry up in the lower rows?

The base is the densest part of the layout, so tiles there are capped from above and squeezed on both sides by the walls. If matches stall, you have probably uncovered a tile whose partner is still buried. Clear the sloping walls and apex first to expose more of the base before digging into its core.

Is the Pentagon symmetric, and does that help?

Yes, the left and right halves mirror each other. That makes the board easy to read and lets you apply the same approach to both walls, but remember the two copies of a given tile are not always placed symmetrically, so always confirm a partner is actually free before committing.

What difficulty is the Pentagon and is it always solvable?

It is rated 3 out of 5, a balanced middle challenge. Like every board here it is generated from a solved state working backwards, so a complete solution always exists, and the Shuffle button re-deals the remaining tiles into a fresh solvable arrangement if you get boxed in.

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