The Shanghai Pocket game is a portable edition of the solitaire game Shanghai, using traditional Mah Jong tiles. The aim of the game is to match tiles. Four of each type are present on the playing field, and when two tiles are matched, they are removed. When none remain, you win. Only tiles that have an empty space on their left or right may be matched. A wrong move may result in the impossibility to clear the field.
The game features a light story mode called Shanghai mode, where each tile setup is based on a Zodiac animal that needs its power restored. The goal is to complete all twelve stages by restoring each animal's power. There are also some variants included, such as Kong Kong, where you compete against a computer or another player to clear tiles, and Challenge (WonderSwan only), which involves racing through a large Shanghai game to get the best score.
Another variant is Goldrush, where you race against an opponent to reach a tile marked 'G', which stands for GOLD. The game is played on the Game Boy Color platform.