Mah Jong Quest takes the age-old tile-matching game Shanghai and throws a few unique twists into the mix. For starters, the main game is actually a story-based quest. Kwazi is a happy young Chinese girl who whittles away the hours playing with her Mah Jong tiles, until one day, a group of evil dragons come flying through and leave her village in ashes. Through the magic of her tile matching, Kwazi sets out to repair all the damage the dragons have done and eventually defeat them. In between stages, one mystical creature or another pops up to tell Kwazi some words of wisdom (with some annoying voice acting, to boot), but otherwise, you're just playing successive games of Shanghai--albeit with a twist or two.
Each progressive stage introduces a special bonus type of tile. There's a dynamite tile, which will blow away an unmatchable free tile if needed; a cloning tile, which will turn one type of free tile into another when required; a magnet tile, which moves a free tile out of the way; and so on and so forth. These specialized games add layers of strategy to the concept that you don't find in other Mah Jong games, and they can be played separately, outside of the quest mode. Similarly, you can play the unmolested version of the game, too, with no crazy tiles or story.
Mah Jong Quest is recommendable because it's the most unique version available on the MSN Games network. The addition of the crazy bonus tiles, its sleek presentation, and bevy of available puzzles set it apart from the pack. If you absolutely have to pay your hard-earned money for a Mah Jong game, make Mah Jong Quest the one.
