Lantern Pals

Lantern Pals is mahjong made small and friendly. Sit down at a candy-coloured tea-house table under smiling paper lanterns and play four quick hands against Bao the panda, Momo the bunny and Kiki the cat. The tiles are chunky, round and cute, the pals wiggle when it's their turn, and every win ends in a shower of hearts and stars.

The rules are the easy core of mahjong: take a tile, throw a tile, and be the first to make four sets and a pair. A set is a run (three in a row) or a triple (three the same). When a pal throws away a tile you need, big buttons pop up so you can grab it. There are no flowers, kongs, winds or tricky scoring tables to learn.

Every win earns stars, with a few extra for easy-to-spot hands like all triples or a single suit. Whoever has the most stars after four hands tops the table. Helpers are always on: green bars under the sets you already have, a pink panel showing exactly which tiles you are waiting for, a yellow tip arrow, and Momo popping up with short tips the first time things happen. The whole how-to-play is three tiny pages.

Made for phones first: tap a tile twice to throw it, in portrait or landscape. On a bigger screen you can play with the mouse or keyboard too.