Mahjong City Tours is played by matching Tiles into pairs with identical symbols, in order to remove them from the board, until no Tiles remain. In most cases, Tiles are playable if there are no other Tiles placed on at least one side (either the left side or the right side.) Once all Tiles have been matched into pairs, the Board is cleared and the Level is won.

However, Mahjong City Tours also included a number of alternative game modes, which change the requirements for completing the Level:
  • Teddy Bears – Free the blue Teddy Bears in the same way as Tiles. Teddy Bears freed in this way are automatically cleared from the Board. Once all of the Teddy Bears have been cleared, the Level is won.
  • Golden Tiles – Match Golden Tiles into pairs to remove them from the Board. Golden Tiles can only be matched with each other. Once all of the Golden Tiles have been cleared, the Level is won.
  • Suitcase – Remove the Tiles from on top of the Suitcase to open it, then fill it by freeing Luggage Tiles in the same manner as regular Tiles. Once the prerequisite number of Luggage Tiles have been packed, the Suitcase is full and the Level is won.
Some Levels may even have more than one game mode active at a time; both conditions need to be met in order to win the Level!