Tileways vs Mahjong Balbal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tileways
Match identical tiles to clear the board in this classic Mahjong Solitaire game. Enjoy 31 unique layouts, all 144 tiles, and a guaranteed winnable deal every time. Features hints, undo, and a clean, ad-free design.
- Match identical tiles
- 31 classic layouts
- 144 tiles per game
- Guaranteed winnable deals
- Hint and undo functions
- Ad-free experience
- Offline play
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How to play Clear the board by matching pairs of identical tiles. A tile can be played only when nothing is stacked on top of it and one of its sides is open — tap two matching free tiles to remove them both. Completely free — no ads, no accounts, nothing locked behind a purchase. There's an optional tip jar if you'd like to support development. 31 classic layouts Start with Turtle and unlock a new shape each time you clear a board — Snowflake, Pyramid, Butterfly, Dragon, Fortress, Scorpion and 25 more, all the way up to White Dragon. Every layout is a real, named classic mahjong solitaire board. 144 tiles, every time Every game deals all 144 tiles of a classic mahjong set. Circles, bamboo and characters, the four winds and three dragons, plus the flower and season bonus tiles. Flowers and seasons Any flower matches any other flower, and any season matches any season — the only tiles that don't need an exact twin. Always winnable Every deal is generated with a guaranteed solution, so a perfect line of play always exists. You will never be dealt a board you couldn't have cleared. Hints and undo Stuck? Tap Hint to highlight a playable pair, and Undo to rewind your moves as far as you like. Choose your table Play on a traditional green felt table, or switch to a darker green in Settings. Clean, relaxing design Traditional tiles, no internet required. Just you and the tiles.
Mahjong Balbal
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Mahjong solitaire with one twist: the tray. Take a free tile and it slides into your tray; find its twin and the pair bursts. Fill the tray and the level ends — so the real question is which tile to take, and when. Hand-built levels · every board solvable · plays offline · no timers TILES FROM TURKIC MYTH The marks are not dragons and bamboo but tamga: sky, birch, seal, wind and fortune. Every chapter carries its own set — sky and wind on the steppe, trees in the birch forest, fire and clan marks in the tent, water at the white lake, stone and dusk at the barrow. HAND-BUILT LEVELS Levels are not randomly generated; each is built on a hand-tuned skeleton. Early boards are low and open. Later the stack grows, upper layers cover the ones beneath, and simply seeing which tile is available becomes part of the puzzle. The tiles stay large: the board never shrinks them to fit. FACE-DOWN TILES On some boards a few tiles wait face down. Clear the way, tap to flip — you only learn what is underneath when you get there. THE ROAD GOES ON When the hand-built floors run out, the road does not: you keep walking. From there on you choose which floor's theme and which symbol set you play with. EVERY BOARD IS SOLVABLE Boards are dealt with their solvability PROVEN: the layout is generated backwards from a valid removal order. If you lock yourself out, Shuffle always returns a solvable arrangement. When you lose, it was not the deal. WHERE YOU LEFT IT You can close the game in the middle of a level. When you come back the board is exactly as you left it — the tiles you cleared are gone, and whatever you parked in the tray is still there. HELPERS Shuffle, Search and Undo. Unlimited for the first ten levels, so you are not counting them while you learn. After that they come from level rewards, daily quests and rewarded videos — or as packs, if you would rather buy them. THINGS TO COLLECT The inventory holds every symbol, realm by realm, each with its name and what it means; the ones you have not reached wait behind a lock. Achievements are collected as posters — floor by floor, realm by realm. SEASONS At certain times of the year a separate road opens, with its own landscape, its own symbols and its own rewards. The first is Nardugan — the return of the sun at the winter solstice. The road opens chapter by chapter; each chapter's gate is on the calendar. FRAMES AND AVATARS Hand-painted frames and avatars, earned through levels, streaks and season rewards. The portrait you wear shows on your profile, on the home screen and on the leaderboard. LEADERBOARDS One list with everyone and a separate one with your friends: the level you have reached and your best single-level score. DAILY AND WEEKLY QUESTS Three each day, three each week. You claim the rewards yourself. PLAYED WITH AN ACCOUNT The first three levels need no account. After that you sign in with Google or Apple, for one reason only: so your progress is not lost when you change devices. Your password never reaches us, and you can delete your account from inside the game. BALBAL+ A monthly or yearly subscription: no ads, and five hints every day. It is optional; the whole game is playable without it. Payment is charged to your App Store account on confirmation. The subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the current period ends. You can manage or cancel it in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://balbal.barisdede.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://balbal.barisdede.com/privacy CREDITS Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Tileways at none against Mahjong Balbal's shown. Mahjong Balbal's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 8 days). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Tileways sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Mahjong Balbal sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Tileways ships an update every 8 days, Mahjong Balbal every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tileways | Mahjong Balbal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 314 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Gary Watson | Barıs DEDE |
In-app purchases
Tileways
- Support Developer$0.99
Mahjong Balbal
- Ad-Free Monthly3 Days trial$5.991 Month
- Ad-Free Yearly3 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Small Helper Pack$0.99
- Starter Pack$1.99
- Medium Helper Pack$2.99
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- Large Helper Pack$7.99
Questions
Is Tileways free?
Is Mahjong Balbal free?
Do Tileways or Mahjong Balbal have ads?
Which is updated more often, Tileways or Mahjong Balbal?
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