Mahjong is a traditional Chinese game, which literally means “the game of a hundred intelligences” (in Chinese). There are various versions of mahjong today: the Chinese, Japanese and the American, each with its own set of rules. Mahjong is a game that involves skill, intelligence, estimation as well as luck. It has been traditionally a gambling game and is still played today in clubs and special mahjong houses. There are also international mahjong tournaments held across the world.

Mahjong is a very popular online game today. The earliest electronic version was created in 1981 by Brodie Lockard but it was officially released in 1983 by Control Data Corporation as a paid online game. The 1986 version released by Activision by the name of Shanghai made the game very popular.

Online versions of mahjong are available for free download over the Internet. There are several kinds of downloadable mahjong, with attractive options that are sure to keep you hooked for hours. Ever Mahjong, Mahjong Quest, Mahjong Medley Solitaire, Ultimate Mahjong 10, Mahjong XP Champion, Gekko Mahjong, Mahjong Towers, NingPo Mahjong, Mahjong, Emperor's Mahjong, Mahjong Tower II, The Rise of the Shanghai are some of the online Mahjong games available. These contain hundreds of challenging tile layouts for up to 9 levels, different game types and layouts (360 or even more), and tile sets. They also have interesting choice of backgrounds and background music. The tiles are also being designed innovatively to be more attractive in designs like flags, astrology, marine life, nature, traffic signs, medieval fantasy, space, Egyptian, warning signs, bugs, music, communication, buildings, Chinese zodiac, tools, colors, food etc. The game can be customized with these options according your fantasies. The best part of online mahjong are the undo, shuffle and hint features, which make sure you don't get stuck.

Downloading mahjong requires a 300 MHz or higher processor, a minimum 32 MB RAM, and a windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP operating system.