Royal Mahjong King's Journey:

In Brief:
A Mahjong game with bonuses that can be upgraded and are earned by completing levels that earn you in game crowns and create combos to help fill the kingdoms coffers.

After playing several levels, this one's a keeper for me. I'm sure everyone who visits here are familiar with Mahjong solitaire games. This one is definitely a cut above a lot we've been given of this genre over the last few years (IMO).

The Game:
The goal in Royal Mahjong: King’s Journey is very simple that is to collect as many coins as you can, and you can do so by matching up pairs of tiles of the same pattern and value. The colour of the tiles itself don’t matter – the gold and silver colours merely indicate that these tiles offer you more coins than the plain coloured tiles. However, if you really want to go all out in getting even more coins, you’ll definitely need to learn how to make combo chains!

To do so, you’ll first need to take note of the numeric equivalent on the tiles you have on the playing field. Next, you should then select the next pair of tiles that are 1 value higher than or are equal in value to the previous pair. This means that you can match the same number several times, but you aren’t allowed to match pairs with a number that is 1 value lower than the previous pair.

Furthermore, suit doesn’t matter when you’re creating a chain, unlike when you are matching up 2 of the same tiles. As long as their number is equal or one higher than the last tiles in the chain, tiles of any suit can continue the chain. Your growing chain of pairs will be shown at the bottom of the screen for your reference.


However, do take note that any pair that doesn’t meet these requirements will instantly break the entire chain and you’ll have to start it over from the beginning. So, do try not to break the chain if you can help it. Also, once the chain breaks, you’ll obtain the coins that you are owed. Of course, the longer the chain, the more coins you get when it breaks! Do bear in mind as well that the chain can break not only after you collect an “incorrect” pair, but also when it reaches a length of 15 tiles.

What about tiles that have no number? Well, for those tiles, they can also be made into a chain, but of course, you won’t be able to insert them into a chain with numbered tiles – they will break your numbered chain. Instead, they can make a chain with other tiles which have illustrations that match in theme, for instance, flowers, seasons, weapons, winds, dragons and many more. The tile patterns for these special tiles vary depending on the tile set you use.

By completing games, you’ll be able to earn crowns. Each level offers up to 3 crowns, each with its own objective that you’ll need to complete, for you to earn! Most of the time, the objectives involve earning X number of coins within X number of steps and removing all tiles from the board. Crowns are important in Royal Mahjong: King’s Journey to unlock and upgrade bonuses in the game.

There are a total of 8 different types of bonuses to unlock, namely hint, undo, multiplier, swap, unlock, step back, hide and remove. Hint shows a random pair of tiles while undo returns the tiles removed in the previous turn to the level. Multiplier multiplies coins received by 2 for 10 turns and swap swaps any 2 tiles of your choice around. On the other hand, the “unlock” bonus unlocks any tile while the “step back” bonus reduces the turn counter by 1. The “hide” bonus hides accessible tiles that have no pair for one turn and lastly, the “remove” bonus removes all accessible pairs regardless of turns. You can also upgrade these bonuses using crowns too!

Each bonus also has their own cooldown periods that are counted down in the number of steps as well. Some are short while some are long. Despite the variety of bonuses that are available, you are only given up to 5 unlock-able slots that you can equip them in, so you’ll need to pick those that you think may be beneficial for you to complete the game. Since crowns are important, you should replay all the levels without 3 stars, if you can, so you can get more stars to buy more stuff.

Last but not least, in Royal Mahjong: King’s Journey, you are given 9 different tile sets for free! They include knight armours or weapons themed, card themed, traditional, crowns, numbers and alphabets, food, flowers, and symbols. So, feel free to choose a tile set that you like in the settings!

Edited reference accessed HERE the 10th of November 2022; originally posted by Aethyna on the 14th of July 2015.

You can see some videos of game play HERE, HERE, HERE and one via the Steam store page HERE.

You can also see some Steam community reviews of the game HERE and Big Fish Community members feedback HERE.

Conclusion:
If you enjoy solitaire mahjong games, then get this one. It's got some nice additions to help you and as you progress gets harder to beat. Definitely worth downloading.