The Dragon spreads wider than the Turtle, with a body that reaches 16 columns at its broadest and tapers to a narrow tail. That horizontal stretch means more tiles are visible and accessible at any given moment, but it also means the center of the board is more heavily stacked — which can lead to nasty late-game blockages if you don't plan ahead.
About the Dragon layout
The Dragon layout emerged as one of the first alternatives to the Turtle in commercial Mahjong Solitaire packs of the early 1990s. Its elongated form was a deliberate contrast: where the Turtle rewards careful vertical thinking (working down through layers), the Dragon rewards horizontal awareness. The wider footprint forces players to think about the full board rather than focusing on a single column. The tapering tail section, narrower than anything in the Turtle, became a signature design challenge — it is easy to paint yourself into a corner there if you clear the body too aggressively.
Tips for Dragon
The tail (the narrow section at the bottom of the board) is your main source of risk. Tiles there have fewer neighbors, which sounds like an advantage but can become a trap: once a tile in the tail is blocked from above, there may be very few ways to free it. Clear the tail region early and methodically before working through the broad midsection. In the wide rows of the center, look for tiles that are blocked on both sides — removing one neighbor immediately doubles your options. Finally, the Dragon's broader shape means hints are more plentiful early on, making it a good layout to practice reading the board without the hint button.