PCOverview
Moraff's Morejongg (later Moraff's MahJongg) is a shareware mahjong solitaire game developed and published by Moraffware for MS-DOS PCs in 1992. It received numerous revisions for Windows PCs from March 1995 to February 2017, with later versions released as Software Diversions, Inc.
A standard mahjong solitaire game, Morejongg makes use of high-resolution XGA graphics (with support for up to 1024x768 resolution) and includes multiple crudely-drawn tilesets and other customization options. Along with the traditional "Turtle" formation, the game included 23 8×6 layouts and 5 11×11 "mega" layouts (which use double the tile amount, using a secondary tileset). It was originally sold as shareware (with only two layouts available), with the registered version also including a bonus concentration game (Moraff's Monster Memory).
The game later received multiple Windows versions, featuring additional layouts, MIDI music, and higher-quality tilesets and backgrounds (with later versions combining them into "themes"). Alternate variations of the game were also released as shareware (such as Moraff's Spherejongg, Moraff's Ringjongg, Moraff's 3D-Jongg, and Moraff's YourJongg). The final version of the game, v14.5, was released on February 2017 as Moraff's MahJongg XIV International.
While earlier and later versions of the game were sold as standard shareware, most Windows versions of the game (and its variants) were sold as part of the 'Jongg CD (later Moraff's World of Games) series of compilation discs. The Windows versions also received retail releases multiple times by Global Star Software in the early 2000's as Moraff's Maximum Mahjongg.
Layouts
Most versions of the game include 49 layouts, with 48 of them split into two groups: Big Tile, and Mega-Morejongg. The other layout, known in the DOS version as "Monster Shanghai" and in Windows versions as "Traditional", is based on the common "Turtle" layout.
Big Tile
These layouts are 8×6, which are scaled-up with the application to make the tiles look large (hence the name).
- Top-down Random
- Plain Stalks
- Covered Stalks
- Short Covered Stalks
- Thick Stalks
- Bridges
- Pretty Neat
- Hole in the Middle
- Four Corners
- Diagonal V-Shape
- Horizontal V-Shape
- Bottom-Up Stalks
- Peaks and Holes
- Corridors
- Inside-Outside Walls
- Walled Courtyards
- Big Courtyard
- Varied Needles
- Slope and Rook
- Connected Corners
- Easy Mountain
- Bottom-up Random
Added in the Windows version:
- Horizontal Canyon
- Bottom-up Random 2
Mega-Morejongg
These layouts are 11×11 and make use of a secondary tileset, essentially doubling the amount of tiles from 144 to 288.
- Three Hills
- Castle
- Giant Mountain
- Many Walls
- Great Chasm
Added in the Windows version:
- Five Pyramids
- Horizontal Slopes
- Diagonal Ridge
- Diagonal Ridge 2
- Giant Courtyard
- Stadium
- Thin Pillars
- Mounment
- Mound
- Diamond Hump
- Giant X
- Square Tubes
- Four Buildings
- Amphitheater
- Pyramid with Blocks
- City Blocks
- Single Mountain
- Jagged Mountain
- Randomized Layout
Variations
The Windows version of the game also had multiple variations, either included with the registered version of the game or as standalone demos:
- Moraff's Spherejongg - First released on April 1995. Rather than tiles, this version makes use of spheres stacked on top of each-other. There are only two layouts (3-layer and 4-layer) and multiple difficulty options (with different options for when spheres are "free"). It was later updated as Moraff's MarbleJongg.
- Moraff's Ringjongg - First released on August 1995. Similar to Spherejongg, only the tiles are now rings. There are only two layouts (small and big) and two difficulty options (for when rings are "free").
- Moraff's YourJongg - First released on August 1997. Made for using photographs as tiles, featuring six layouts for portrait-oriented tiles and six layouts for landscape-oriented tiles. It also includes an optional mode where players form triplets instead of pairs.
- Moraff's 3D-Jongg - First released on December 1997. A variation with one twist: rather than pairs, players attempt to form triplets. It includes 12 layouts (1 in the shareware) and as the name implies, it defaults to a tileset that includes renders of primitive 3D objects on them (to give the illusion that the game is in 3D).
- Moraff's MomJongg - First released on October 2000. A shareware re-release of the v7 version of Morejongg that defaults to a tileset based on children's drawings.
In addition, the game received a slimmed-down demo on May 1995 known as Moraff's Tinyjongg, fitting the shareware v2 version on a single 250 KB executable file for easier redistribution (with only five basic tilesets).
Exiting the registered version of Moraff's Cyber-Pinball starts a modified version of the game as a "bonus game" (known as Moraff's Jongg), which uses graphics and music based on Cyber-Pinball.
