Looks interesting, and may be the first Mahjong game that has zombies for a tileset. One thing troubles me though.

If anyone buys Mahjong, can you tell me if the game automatically makes the 'free' tiles brighter than the non-free tiles while you play? Some Mahjong games do that and to me, that's pretty much 'cheating.' I'd get the game if it doesn't do this.

I have 5-In-1 Mahjong and while it's a great game, it does highlight the free tiles even though none of the screenshots online show this, so it misled me into thinking it didn't. Unfortunately, there's no way to turn this feature off so I'm stuck with it. Thanks to anyone who helps as I'd trust them more than screenshots.

Oh, can anyone tell me also if it has the standard (traditional) layout? Not all Mahjong games include this even though it's traditional. Thanks.
Here's what the layout looks like:

http://home.halden.net/vkp/vkp/22.gif

I left it downloading at home.
I'll try it in some hours and tell you how's it.

My previous mahjong game was 3D Mahjong (DSiWare), which is pretty basic, this one seems to have way more features so I decided to upgrade.

impressions written as I play:
The 3ds home menu "gretting banner" is pretty nice.
You have 5 files available.
The music is pretty non-oriental.
The menu is touch-only.
The "traditional" (turtle) layout is included but locked.
Actually... Everything but the first layout (a modified turtle) in free play is locked.
The graphics are pretty nice.
The music during the mahjong solitaire solving is pretty nice!
No higlighted pieces as far as I can see.
No button input at all (just start and select for pausing).
Oh wow, this is newto me, you're restricted by layers (you can't match pieces from different layers).
The layer You're working with is higlighted, which makes it easier to see the pieces. Nice!
Huh what, The rules seem a little bit more different than what I'm used to, I should read a tutorial first.

Thanks a lot for the help! I wonder if this will replace 5-in-1- Mahjong for me. It looks decent enough.

There are to G's

I solved the first puzzle and updated my first post with my impressions.
The rules seem to be different from what I'm used to.(Wait, I got it).

Oh, ny the way. There are 50 layouts, 49 are locked.
And... The turtle layout is a little bit different.

Ah you are right. I adjusted the title. Thanks.

Hmm game sounds cool so far, but I don't get the 'free tiles by layer' rule. So if a free tile is one layer down and another free tile is one layer up, you can't remove them?? That's not a standard rule as far as I know.

Oh, can you tell me something else? It says in desc that you can play it with 'classic' rule and 'rivers' rule. I never heard of a 'rivers' rule before. Can you tell me what it is? Maybe it has to do with that layers thing you're talking about.

Shame about Turtle layout but it's better than nothing I suppose.

From the game:
Mahjongg- Rivers Rules
Your target is to remove all pairs of tiles by tapping two ifentical tiles in a row.
You can only remove tiles that are in the same layer and are not covered by another tile. Find a pair and tap both tiles.

When connecting pairs, the line may mot change direction more than twice. The green line shows tiles that can be removed. The red line shows tiles that can't be removed. Please tap the tiles that can be removed.

(image, the green line connects two tiles and bends only twice, the red line connects two tiles, but bends three times)

Each tile set consist of several groups of 4 identical tiles. It also has one group of 4 special tiles that belong together but are not identical. These tiles have a darker background to help you recognize them.

(image, shows that the flower tiles are a little bit darker and can be paired together despite the different images)

it's actually pretty nice!
The game has the Rivers rules by default, but you can change to classic in the options menu.

Hey thanks for typing all that out. Wasn't expecting that.

Now I want to know is, In 5-In-1 Mahjong, only the tiles you could actually remove were bright in colour while all the other tiles were dimmed. So does it do this too in 3D Mahjongg in Classic mode or are all the tiles bright? Sorry to ask you all these questions but this is the absolute last one, and it will be the deal breaker. I know you said it doesn't do this but I think you were playing with rivers rule and may not be a sufficient answer.

Thanks if you can help.

Oh haha nice, when I changed to classic, a small tutorial told me how to play that.

I started a classic puzzle, and the game changed the way it shades the tiles. Tiles become darker or lighter depending on the layer they're in. The lowest layer being the darkest. As usual.
No hints as far as I can tell.

... Lol I ended up without moves. I guess rivers is safer in that regard.

Don't worry about asking, I'm glad to help.

This sounds like a keeper now. As long as only the free tiles isn't highlighted, then that's fine. Thanks again for all your help. You answered all my questions.

You're welcome.

Wow, there's a layout named the world is square that's so simple it's quite hard.
I unlocked the fish tiles. I wonder when will I unlock more backgrounds.

I got it and played it for a bit. Got to level 4 in adventure mode. I think 5-in-1 Mahjong has more intricate layouts (although it's hard to say until I actually unlock them) and has the traditional turtle layout, but this one doesn't have move-able tiles highlighted so it's better than 5-in-1 Mahjong for that reason alone. 5in1 Mahjong also has this rule not found in the actual game. 3D Mahjongg has nice clear graphics although it'd be nice if both games made every tile bright, not just the ones at the top layer. Having the tiles dimmed isn't very pleasing. I'd rather have everything bright. That's a low con anyway though as other than that it is pretty well done. There's no silly 'power ups' and such that some other Mahjong games have, and no 'Shuffle' option. I always considered such things as cheating. it's a pure version of Solitaire Mahjong without any 'video game' trappings.
All in all it's a good replacement for 5-In-1 Mahjong.

Hey lucky me. I managed to win that 'squares' layout on my first go. Those are one of the worse kinds of layouts since the majority of tiles aren't free, leaving you with very little to start off with.

The best Solitaire Mahjong game ever though is still Shanghai Great Moments (PC). Everything about it is excellent and had some additional game modes like Great Wall (where tiles you removed would cause any tiles above it to fall down due to gravity) and Beijing (slide whole tiles to remove from play) that were pretty fun, and hasn't been seen in any other Mahjong game since. The game's sadly old now though, and refuses to run until you change the colours down to 256 (and makes the desktop et all look pretty yucky).
http://www.mobygames.com/game/shanghai-great-moments

So, is it worth the $5 to download?

Hell yes. For a Solitaire Mahjong game it's very good. Hey it also has a zombie theme although I haven't unlocked it yet. It has all the classic rules, lots of layouts and 6 different themes, although I generally only use the traditional layout when I play the game. Still, the graphics are wonderfully done and they looks crisp and clean. I'm at level 56 (or so) in 'Adventure' mode and I'm still not even halfway done yet according to the meter at the top.

Thanks for having an interest though. Most people wouldn't want to play games like Solitaire or Solitaire Mahjong. I find these types of games relaxing.

Oh ha, I just found out that you can press R to show your play time during a puzzle.

Also, the adventure mode has 200 levels, according to the info on the eShop. I guess the zombie theme will take quite a bit to unlock.

And... I really appreciate having the layers shaded... It makes it a lot easier for my eyes to identify where the tiles are.

So, are we recommending this game so far or...? High and low points?

But I already gave my highs and lows. The fact I didn't mention much lows means the game doesn't really have much of it.

No, I was talking more of a score 5/10 or 8/10, etc.

I would totally recommend it to anyone who wants mahjong solitaire on their 3DS.
It's pretty good, and with the rivers rules it's almost like a whole different game.

The simple fact that the 3DS screen has better resolution makes it superior to any of the DSiWare options.

Sorry. I don't believe in using random numbers to rate a game. What's important is the content of the review, not 'the number at the end. I think reviews should abolish numbers and percentages. I noticed Morphtroid didn't give a number rating either...well maybe someone else can give a rating, but I think we're the only two people who actually bought it.