Spade Mahjong Solitaire
About the Spade Layout
The Spade board is the elegant playing-card suit rendered in tiles: a filled, leaf-shaped point at the top that swells outward into two rounded shoulders, then pinches in at the bottom and sits on a short flared stem like a tiny pedestal. The bulk of the tiles fill the broad rounded body, a few crown the sharp upper tip, and a small foot of tiles flares out beneath. It is a clean, symmetrical, slightly formal silhouette that reads as a spade at a single glance.
At 2 out of 5 the Spade plays smooth and a touch faster than it looks. Its left-right symmetry means whatever you learn on one shoulder applies to the other, so the board teaches you its own rhythm quickly. The wide body offers plenty of free edges, the pointed tip is loosely held, and the only spot that demands care is the narrow waist where the body necks down into the little stem. A comfortable, satisfying clear for a relaxed sitting.
Difficulty: Medium (2/5) | Tiles: 90
How to Clear the Spade Layout
Open at the sharp top point and along the outer curves of the two shoulders. The tip is a slim spire of tiles supported only from below, so its topmost pieces are free immediately, and the rounded outer edges of the body give you a long ribbon of exposed tiles down both sides. Working the perimeter of the spade first keeps a wide selection open without committing you to the dense interior.
Because the spade is symmetric, play it in balance: take a tile off the left shoulder, then its mirror on the right. This keeps the board from collapsing lopsided and ensures both halves of the body thin out together, which matters at the end when you need matching tiles to still be reachable on either side. Treat the two lobes as one shared pool rather than two separate problems.
The crux is the waist, the narrow neck where the rounded body tapers down toward the stem. Tiles funnel through that pinch point and a few of them sit under the overhang of the lobes above. Do not strip the stem and foot bare too early; if you do, the waist tiles lose their lower support before the body above has opened, and they lock. Clear the body down to the waist first, then ease through the neck into the stem.
Endgame is the small flared foot plus the last tiles in the waist. Keep one or two reliable common pairs from low on the body in reserve so your final matches are not two stranded foot tiles. If the neck or foot ever jams, the Shuffle button re-deals the remaining tiles into a guaranteed-solvable layout, so a pinched waist is recoverable.
The Story Behind the Spade Layout
The spade is the highest-ranking suit in many card games, and its shape is widely thought to derive from a stylized leaf or a spearhead, which is why it looks part botanical and part blade. The little stem at the bottom is purely decorative, a flourish that balances the heavy point above and makes the symbol feel grounded rather than top-heavy.
Its strong vertical symmetry is exactly what makes it a pleasing Mahjong board. You can play it almost like a mirror exercise, matching moves on the left and right, and the contrast between the aggressive sharp tip and the soft rounded lobes gives the clearing a nice arc from pointed to round to the dainty little foot at the finish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Spade's symmetry change how I should play?
Yes, use it. Clearing the left and right shoulders in matched pairs keeps the board balanced and stops one side from emptying while the other stays buried. It also means tiles you need late tend to remain reachable on both halves rather than getting stranded on a lopsided side.
Where is the hardest part of the Spade board?
The waist, the narrow neck between the rounded body and the stem. Tiles squeeze through that pinch and some are tucked under the lobes above. Clear the body down to the waist before stripping the stem and foot, or the waist tiles lose their support and lock up.
Should I clear the pointed tip early or save it?
Clear it early. The tip is a thin spire held only from below, so its top tiles are free right away and removing them opens the top of the body. There is no benefit to saving it, and leaving it can shadow tiles just beneath the point.
I cleared the body but a foot tile has no match left. What now?
That usually means matching partners were spent too early; the fix going forward is to bank a couple of easy low-body pairs as closers. For the current board, press Shuffle to re-deal the remaining tiles solvably, then finish through the foot.
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