Mahjong Ways

Mahjong Ways Review

PG Soft has found inspiration in the wisdom of the ancient Chinese with this release, and Mahjong Ways slot is based on the classic tile game that has long since spread to all corners of the world. The reels are filled with polished ivory tiles, and each session is fuelled by the chatter you would typically hear around the table of this 4-player game. The chatter is in Chinese, however, making it hard to understand for us Westerners.

Anyway, let’s start with the basics before we move on to the good stuff. You can choose bet levels ranging from €0.60 to €180 per spin, which should suit most types of players except, perhaps, the most careful penny punters. Next, you can choose to play in turbo mode for faster spins and set up between 10 and 1,000 autospins if you prefer the hands-free experience. Mahjong Ways plays out on a 5x4 grid with 1,024 ways to win, and you win as long as matching symbols appear on at least 3 adjacent reels, starting from the leftmost reel.

Mahjong Ways Reels Screen

The Mahjong tile with green Chinese symbols is the highest value pay symbol, followed by 7 other tiles with different symbols. These pay between 1x and 10x your stake for 5 of a kind wins, and the gold ingot Wild symbol substitutes for any pay symbol to help complete or improve wins. Winning symbols are removed and replaced via the cascading mechanic, and each cascade increases the Gonzo mechanic multiplier, as shown above the grid. It tops out at x5 in the base game.

Gold-plated versions of the pay symbols can appear on the 3 middle reels, and these turn wild on the following cascade if part of a win. The bonus round doubles the Gonzo multiplier range, with initial wins being boosted by x2 and topping out at x10. Mahjong Ways is a medium volatility slot game, boasting an above-average RTP of 96.92% and a max win of 25,000x your stake. The game’s overall hit rate is 1 in 3.5 spins, while you can expect the bonus round to hit once around every 204 spins on average.

Mahjong Ways Features

You can learn all the details about the features of this game below, and you can also check them out for yourself in the Mahjong Ways free play demo game, located at the top of this review page. Let’s check it all out!

Cascading Wins

Winning symbols are removed from the grid, and the gaps are filled with existing and new symbols dropping down. This cascading mechanic continues as long as you keep forming new winning combinations, meaning indefinite winning streaks are possible per round.

Gold Plated Symbols

Regular pay symbols may appear in their golden version on reels 2, 3, and 4. When such a gold-plated symbol is part of a win, it’s transformed into a wild symbol for the cascade that follows. If the wild symbol is part of a win, it’s removed like regular winning symbols.

Multiplier

The multiplier increases per consecutive cascade in the same round, as indicated above the reels. The initial win is not boosted, but the 3 subsequent base game cascading wins after that are boosted by x2, x3, and x5, respectively. The x5 win multiplier then continues to boost any wins beyond that, and the multiplier resets to x1 for the next round.

Mahjong Ways Free Spins Gameplay Screen

Free Spins Bonus Round

Landing 3 scatter on the same spin, or within the same cascading sequence, triggers the Bonus Round. You get 12 free spins plus 2 additional free spins per additional triggering scatter above the minimum of 3. You can retrigger the bonus round to win additional free spins. The difference from the base game is that the win multiplier range is doubled. This means initial wins are boosted by x2, and subsequent cascading wins are boosted by x4, x6, and x10. The x10 multiplier continues to boost subsequent cascading wins until you hit a non-winning spin. The multiplier then resets to x2 again for the next free spin.

Theme & Graphics

The Mahjong Ways slot game presents a grid that mimics a traditional tabletop setup, set against a crimson backdrop with gold coins and Mahjong tiles. This blurred-out background is only visible on larger screens, though, as this is a portrait-mode, mobile-first game. The symbols are crisp, featuring authentic Chinese characters and bamboo suits that pop against the ivory tiles, while the top-mounted multiplier bar adds a functional, golden sheen to the layout. The classical Chinese soundtrack is punctuated by voiceover action commentary that makes it feel like you’re playing with a group of friends, albeit Chinese-speaking friends.

Mahjong Ways Free Play

If you want to see how this game works in practice, simply head to the top of this page and fire up the free Mahjong Ways demo. You can play on your mobile, desktop, or laptop, as the game adapts to any screen size, although it looks best in portrait mode on your phone. You will then get to familiarize yourself with the ebb and flow of the cascading mechanic, and you can trigger the bonus round a few times for even larger multipliers. When you are satisfied with your Mahjong Ways free play session, check our list of casinos below the demo, all confirmed to carry this title.

Pros and Cons of Mahjong Ways

Our Verdict

Taking a seat at PG Soft’s table for Mahjong Ways is a surprisingly grounded experience for a developer often associated with flashy, high-octane mobile titles. The clacking nature of the traditional Chinese tile game, combined with the chatty voiceovers, makes you feel right at home, although probably even more so if you speak Chinese. PG Soft could have given players the option to choose between Chinese and English voiceovers to give the game a broader appeal also in the West.

It is what it is, however, and while the mechanics are well-known to experienced players, they still come together to create an enjoyable session. The pace of the game is satisfying with the turbo switched on, and you can look forward to plenty of cascading action fuelled by gold-plated symbols turning wild after being part of a win. It’s a shortcut compared to the standard "wilds on the way" feature, making it more effective in prolonging your winning streaks.

Of course, the Gonzo multiplier takes center stage in a game like this, making the base game less of a grind and more of a real opportunity for decent to solid payouts. Still, don’t get your hopes up too high for the base game, as, like in most games, the math model is geared towards larger payouts in the bonus round. Still, keeping afloat didn’t seem all that hard in Mahjong Ways, at least in my experience, and it’s a medium volatility slot after all.

When you finally trigger the free spins bonus, the doubling of the multiplier range is where Mahjong Ways truly reveals its teeth. All initial wins are now boosted by x2 before the multiplier accelerates towards x10 for back-to-back solid wins as long as you can keep the streaks going after that. Of course, it’s a bit of a hit-and-miss factor involved, as you need longer streaks to get to the x10 multiplier in the first place. All in all, Mahjong Ways offers a fun time taken for what it is, even if the stated 25,000x max win seems a bit unrealistic.