Mahjong Realms news & patch notes

Ancient Desert

• New Realm - a Sumerian-inspired theme where tiles are made from clay tablets with inscribed cuneiform symbols, offering a challenging new visual language to sift through, set on a desert backdrop with flowing sand and a soothing soundtrack

• New Campaign - 10 new hand-crafted puzzles to play through

Get it now!

Version 1.1

• New shuffle algorithms - fully solvable guarantees are now an option for casual play

• Difficulty presets - easily set your challenge level

• Steam rich presence - now your friends can see what puzzle you're playing

• Tile spacing option - new option to add or remove the "tile gap" to make tiles easier to see

• Improved loading - no more loading spinners (except for community puzzles) and smooth transitions between menus and realms

• Auto-updating community puzzles list - when you subscribe to a community puzzle from the Steam Overlay, your list of community puzzles will automatically refresh when it downloads

• Responsive UI - playing in a smaller window is now much more feasible, and so is editing puzzles

• Editor help text - the editor has had some undocumented keyboard shortcuts that are now surfaced at the bottom of the screen for the active tool

• Updated settings menu - visual aids and explainer text help you know what you're changing

• Startup video - don't worry, it's skippable and can be disabled in the settings, but it makes me feel more professional

• New shuffle algorithms - fully solvable guarantees are now an option for casual play
• Difficulty presets - easily set your challenge level
• Steam rich presence - now your friends can see what puzzle you're playing
• Tile spacing option - new option to add or remove the "tile gap" to make tiles easier to see
• Improved loading - no more loading spinners (except for community puzzles) and smooth transitions between menus and realms
• Auto-updating community puzzles list - when you subscribe to a community puzzle from the Steam Overlay, your list of community puzzles will automatically refresh when it downloads
• Responsive UI - playing in a smaller window is now much more feasible, and so is editing puzzles
• Editor help text - the editor has had some undocumented keyboard shortcuts that are now surfaced at the bottom of the screen for the active tool
• Updated settings menu - visual aids and explainer text help you know what you're changing
• Startup video - don't worry, it's skippable and can be disabled in the settings, but it makes me feel more professional

It's been almost six months since the launch of Mahjong Realms. Here's what's coming next for the game!

Version 1.1

Improved shuffle algorithms - I've heard the complaints about shuffling. The original intent was to stick close to the true random nature of mahjong solitaire, which requires focus and preemptive planning to ensure victory. This was not communicated clearly on the store page, and thus players looking for a more casual click-through experience ended up playing the game without being prepared for the challenge and left negative reviews. In fairness, if you don't know this and aren't making the best moves early on, later-stage board states can easily be shuffled into something unsolvable. Version 1.1 will introduce two new shuffle algorithms, allowing you to pick between:

• Solvable - guarantees that the layout is solvable, but it's up to you to navigate it

• Hybrid - Starts as spread matches, then switches to solvable after most of the tiles are matched to prevent unfair shuffles when there are few tiles remaining

• Spread matches - matching tiles are not stacked on top of each other anywhere in a stack (the current "don't stack matching tiles" option)

• Random - completely random without any kind of protective algorithm to make it solvable (current "don't stack matching tiles" unchecked)

Difficulty presets - Along with the new shuffle algorithms, there will be preset difficulty options to make it easier to choose your challenge level (including a preset for the Aeonic Ascension achievement).

New tile spacing option - Another complaint that players have had is visibility of the tiles. I'm adding an option to toggle the small gap between tiles. This helps to thin the borders between tiles, making it easier to see if a tile is next to another, or if they're actually offset on a different layer. This will be set to "none" (no gap) by default.

Improved loading - I've made significant changes to how the game handles loading all the puzzles for the menus. You should no longer see a loading spinner once Version 1.1 lands (exception: community puzzles).

There have also been some other quality improvements, as well as rich presence, so now your friends will be able to see what you're up to in-game.

Ancient Desert DLC

Along with version 1.1, Mahjong Realms will get its first DLC realm! Ancient Desert includes:

• New Realm - a Sumerian-inspired theme where tiles are made from clay tablets with inscribed cuneiform symbols, offering a challenging new visual language to sift through, set on a desert backdrop with flowing sand and a soothing soundtrack

• New Campaign - 10 new hand-crafted puzzles to play through

Wishlist the Ancient Desert DLC now!

The day has finally arrived—Mahjong Realms is officially live on Steam! Thank you to everyone who wishlisted, followed, and supported the game along the way. Your energy helped bring this project to life.

You can now dive into:

• 🀄 The full Campaign, featuring themed realms with handcrafted puzzles

• ⚡ Quick Play, perfect for relaxing sessions or fast tile-clearing bursts

• 🧩 The Puzzle Editor, where you can design your own layouts

• 🌐 Steam Workshop support—publish your puzzles, share them, and explore community creations

Whether you’re here for cozy puzzle sessions, competitive clear times, or crafting your own layouts, there’s something waiting for you in the realms.

Play Mahjong Realms on Steam now!

Mahjong Realms now has an official release date!

Mahjong Realms launches on Friday, December 5th. Thank you to everyone who has wishlisted and followed along so far—it’s almost time to play.

At launch, Mahjong Realms will include:

• 🀄 Campaign Mode with a full set of handcrafted puzzles across multiple themed realms

• ⚡ Quick Play for jumping straight into a relaxing match

• 🧩 Puzzle Editor so you can build your own layouts

• 🌐 Steam Workshop support to share your creations and play community-made puzzles

Until release day, the best way to support the game is to wishlist and follow Mahjong Realms on Steam so you don’t miss it when it goes live.

Thank you again for your support—can’t wait to see the puzzles you create when Mahjong Realms arrives in 3 days!