The story mode of the Mahjong Huntress requires some planning ahead and meta play. Else you'll quickly run out of crystals, finding yourself stuck for good at some of the more meaner stages of the game. So stockpiling crystals und using them wisely is key to beat the game.

Note: Layout, level, stage are used interchangeably.

• Achievements unlock relics, which can be claimed in the "grandpas relics" section of the story journal
  
• Claimed relics will add a good amount of crystals, which are vital to progress past some of the more difficult stages
  
• Read the achievement requirements beforehand and play accordingly, e.g. achieve 10 combos of 5 in a single layout.
  
• If you feel you are running out of crystals, replay some stages in order to complete some of the long term achievements, like collecting 5000 tiles. But beware: Choose easy layouts, so you won't just end up using even more crystals eventually!

Playing Mahjong is seemingly rather easy. Simply finding matching tiles seems to be a rather trivial task. But is it?

The devil is as always hidden in the detail. If you just try to find matching tiles as fast as possible, clicking them without any further concern you'll quickly end up in a dead end. So before you start, take a moment and study the board.

The difficulty of the game in front of you is determined by the layout which is dependent on the type of different tiles occuring in a single game, the total amount of tiles, the density of the tiles and the degree (depth) of the tile stacking.

Tile types

As you've probably noticed, the Mahjong Huntress has a myriad of stones. More different stones result in a cluttered perception and depending on the layout and number of tiles, a lesser chance to find matching tiles.

Amount of tiles

The more tiles you have, the longer a game will take to complete.

Density

As you can only select tiles which aren't locked by surrounding tiles, the difficulty of a layout increases if tiles are put right next to each other. So choosing a matching pair of tiles in densely packed layouts is a lot more tricky, because you have to check if you won't run into a dead end because you didn't manage to unlock the next matching pair.

Degree of tile stacking (depth)

The real deal is the degree of the tile stacking. A large, loosely packed and flat layout with maybe only a maximum of one tile stacked on top of another (a tile depth of two) is rather easy to solve, as you'll quickly find the matching tiles. The probability of having a matching pair of stones being stacked on top of each other, is rather low.

But a smaller, densely packed layout with a larger stack size (a greater depth) will leave you with only a small margin of choices before you'll eventually run out of them. The probability of having matching pairs being hidden on top of each other in the same stack, or being hidden underneath other non-matching tiles in different stacks is rather high.


So what's the worst case scenario of a Mahjong game? Right, increasing density and stack size to a degree, where you've got all tiles stacked on top of each other. Of course that's a rather stupid idea, as it couldn't be solved at all.

A viable, but extremely challenging layout would be a cube. All stack tiles placed next to each other with exactly the same depth, resulting in a high density. Combined with a high number of different tile types, you'll have to plan each move ahead.

Before you start clicking away the first matches, study the board. Are the tiles / stacks densely packed? How deep are the stacks? Which kind of tile types are on top of the higher stacks?

Once you've assessed the situation, try to stick to the following set of golden rules.

• Start with the highest and densest stacks.
  
• Always use tiles from stacks to form pairs among each other first!
  
• If you can't form a match with tiles from two stacks, use a tile that at least unlocks another to match it with one on top of a stack!
  
• Leave loose tiles alone unless you really need them! Tackle stacks with them first!

With this basic set of rules you can tackle basically every Mahjong game. But in case of the Mahjong Huntress, the combo system, the penchant and the special powers enhance the ruleset dramatically.

Pendant

• Use the pendant to remove a tile that locks others!

The pendant in the top right corner is basically nothing but a way to remove one tile without having to find a match. Unfortunately you can do so only once until you've eventually managed to find the missing tile to match it against that in your penchant. In that case it'll poof away and allow you to fill your placeholder with another one.

This is a perfect way to unlock tiles or even whole stacks. Especially a tile placed on four others can be removed to give you acess to four below. An excellent bargain, as it can easily put you back onto the path of success! So use it wisely and look around where the removal of a tile will benefit you most.

Combo system

• Identify most prevalent tile types on top of stacks.
  
• Focus on one tile type (e.g. number tiles) then move to the next (e.g. moon tiles) to maintain speed.

The combo system is a fine way to force the player into making a decision. Either he wishes to achieve a high score or he focuses on clearing the board with as little mistakes as possible. Don't feel pressured by the combo timer: Unless you wish to unlock a certain achievement or aim for high scores (e.g. combo of twenty) you shouldn't put too much haste into your moves.

One badly chosen stone and you find yourself forced to use the special powers, eating away your crystals faster than you'll find appropriate in the later stages of the game.

Special Powers

• Use a special power suitable for the current layout and situation!
  
• Don't spam cheap ones, a well used higher power can help you to clear the board in one go!

Special powers deserve an extra entry, simply because their efficient use is key to finish the story mode.

The efficient and well timed use of the special powers is most difficult part of the story mode. With a bit of skill and RNG-luck, you've probably solved the first six or seven boards without much hassle.

If not, create a new profile and start over. The first boards of Chapter One are the perfect opportunity to unlock some of grandpas relics, leaving you with some 10 to 15 crystals ready to find Mary's fiancé.

The trick to beat the game is to find the appopriate, most energy efficient special power to solve the board in which you got stuck. It's absolutely counterproductive to waste away energy by spamming cheap powers, just to use the one you should have used right away on top of it!

If you've read the second part of the guide carefully, you'll probably already know what I'm going to explain next.

General advice

If you ran into a dead end, check the possibility to remove a stone via your pendant. It's amazing how a well chosen tile can lead to a whole series of matching pairs. If you are really stuck, think twice before just spamming a power. Depending on tiles left, the depth of stacks left or the types of tiles distributed, one special power can prove useless where another clears the board for you.

Lightning

The cheapest power will find a matching tile to the one in your pendant and destroy both. It's useful to clear your pendant of the tile, but that's basically it. Unless there are only a few tiles left, the power will often just fail to provide you with any more options. Spamming it won't really do any good, quite the contrary. While often not allowing you to progress, it will use up so much power that you haven't got enough left in order to use a more appropriate, but also more costly special power.

Clairvoyance

Clairvoyance is basically a hint system to show you where matching, unlocked tiles are. Nothing you can't figure out for yourself. It's only useful if you wish to achieve a high combo rate, but with increasing play time you'll develop an eye for matching tiles. Don't use it.

Edifiers luck / Tile Reshuffler

This special power is a great way to have a fresh start. It will randomly shuffle the tiles on the board, putting tiles on top of the stacks which were hidden below. But beware: If you've got a layout with lots of tiles hidden beneath stacks or being deadlocking each other, this is NOT a good power to use. Use it you've got a rather loose layout with lots of unlocked, but unfortunately not matching tiles.

Paranormal Sight

If you are in the unfortunate position of having only a few unlocked, not matching tiles, but a lot of locked, matching tiles, use paranormal sight. It will allow you to treat each tile as if it is unlocked. Too bad that it will only grant you a few seconds to do so, therefore you have to study the board wisely. Remember matching pairs and then click them away as fast as you can!

Just in keep in mind: Try to create as much gaps as possible between the tiles. Once the time has run out, you'll find a lot of tiles being unlocked now, since you've gave them some space to breathe.

Tile Conversion

This power has the potential to help you greatly, just as it can leave you feeling frustrated.

Using the power will turn all stones of a single type into one and the same item. As long as they are unlocked, all tiles of this type can be matched with each other. But even better, you can use it a second time and turn another type of stones into the very same item than the tile type you've already converted!

What's the matter then? Well, using the power will eat away a whole gem. And if you're out of luck, you might have chosen the wrong tile type at all, because once you've cleared a layer of stacks you'll run into a different type. I.e.: Confronted with lots of stack but no matching tiles you convert all the plain number tiles into one item. But after clearing them you find that the tiles underneath are all of the spades tile type. Of course without matching each other as well!

Nevertheless, with a bit of luck this power can be your last resort clear nasty layouts with high depth, high density and lots of tile types. Just make sure that you've played to the best to your abilities! If you are sure that you won't be able to fare better with a restart of the stage, use it and look if you can combine it with cheaper power afterwards.