Microsoft Mahjong is a casual version of the popular Chinese tile-matching game reimagined by Microsoft. It features a wide selection of gameplay options. The player must match pairs of tiles to clear away patterns or complete tasks and win awards.
The player can select one of more than 40 puzzles or a daily challenge. With the Puzzle mode, they choose the Easy, Medium, Hard or Expert mode and an unlocked puzzle pattern. They then follow classic gameplay rules, even when the tiles don't display classic imagery. They must remove identical tiles in pairs (i.e., classic bamboo sticks, colored stones, dragon symbols and language characters or theme-related images) and pairs of category-based Wild Tiles (i.e., classic flowers and seasons or theme-related images). They must complete a puzzle to unlock a new one.
If the player selects Daily Challenges, they earn coins and work toward earning a monthly badge based on their winnings. The player accesses a challenge by selecting the tab for the current date or the calendar and a specific day. Challenges include matching a specific number of golden or lightning tiles, completing a specific number of matches or scoring before time runs out, and classic play.