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Each player moves a wall to their front, forming a square in the middle of the board. The Flower
and Season tiles are optional, and they do not have duplicates, meaning there are only 8 throughout the entire set. In certain variations of classic Mahjong, these tiles are used as tokens offering bonuses to players who draw them. For the purposes of this guide, Optional Tiles will be omitted unless discussing variants involving them. If players run out of tiles from the wall before someone reaches Mah Jongg, the game results in a draw. The winning player is awarded the number of points for that hand (as noted on the card), plus bonus points if the hand is jokerless or the last tile was self-picked (rather than a call).
Exponential scoring scores each pung at 2 points, which is doubled if the pung was not revealed, doubled if the pung used ones or nines, and doubled twice more if the pung was a kong. The goal of the game is to get a mahjong, which consists of getting all 14 of your tiles into four sets and one pair. A set can either be a "pung," which is three identical tiles, or a "chow," which is a run of three consecutive numbers in the same suit. Since wins are possible through a draw from the wall or a discard claim, different payouts are possible. If a win results due to a draw from the wall, all players are required to pay double the point value.
Kong
Typically, this draw is performed during the initial deal to speed up play. If this does not complete a legal hand, the dealer then discards a piece (throwing it into the middle of the wall with no particular order in mind). Each player now sets aside any flowers or seasons they may have drawn and takes turns to draw replacement tiles from the wall in the anti-clockwise direction from the dealer. If a player gets any flowers or seasons tiles in the replacement draw, the players must wait for the next turn to draw replacement tiles. Using the same total on the dice (or the total of the two throws), the player whose wall is chosen then counts the stacks of tiles from right to left.
- Shenyang Mahjong includes rules that force players to think on their feet, such as the necessity of Pongs before Chows.
- Chips and counters are sometimes offered for those who want to play the traditional version.
- However, players should typically keep the same number of ‘levels’ as in their pre-shuffle layout, even if the new shape is different.
- Alternatively, a player may also win by drawing a tile that completes a legal hand.
- In Hong Kong mahjong there are a series of "limit hands".
Like the rules, there is a generalized system of scoring, based on the method of winning and the winning hand, from which Chinese and Japanese base their roots. American mahjong generally has greatly divergent scoring rules, as well as greatly divergent general rules. If only the dead wall remains (or if no dead wall exists and the wall is depleted) and no one has won, the hand is drawn or "goulashed". A new hand begins, and depending on the variant, the Game Wind may change.
How to Play Mah Jongg
Although in many variations scoreless hands are possible, many require that hands be of some point value in order to win the hand. Many variations have specific hands, some of which are common while some are optional depending on regions and players. One example is the Pure Green hand made of chows or pongs using 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 of bamboo and green dragon. If the dealer wins the hand, they will remain the dealer and an extra hand is played in addition to the minimum 16 hands in a match. If multiple players call for a discarded tile, priority for the discard depends on the declared action of the player stealing the discard. The players then push their walls together forming a square, the hollow center of which will be used for discarding tiles. This quintessentially Chinese game is, in fact, very similar to a number of Western card games such as rummy.
Game of the Day Calendar
In this section, we’ll delve into these intriguing aspects of the game. Advanced players try to avoid leaving isolated tiles on the board while maintaining balance in their distribution. Once a tile becomes this way, it cannot be matched with anything else on the board until more options are uncovered.
Declaring a nonexistent rīchi is also penalised in some way. A concealed meld is one that contains no tiles stolen from another player’s discard. Many variations distinguish between a concealed hand (winning from the wall) and a semi concealed hand (the last tile is a stolen discard). In most mahjong variations having a concealed hand can be valuable in scoring.
The Set-Up And Seating
To decide the dealer, two dice are thrown, and the player with the higher value will be the dealer, or the East Wind as commonly referred to. Since turn order follows anticlockwise, mystake the following players are assigned the South, West, and North Winds respectively. After shuffling, the tiles are arranged in walls that are 17 tiles wide and 2 tiles high.
Tiles that have one side ‘free’ can be paired with any other ‘exposed’ tiles in the playing area. The aim of Mahjong Solitaire is to clear the playing area by removing paired tiles. However, there are certain rules about which tiles can be paired. The game is believed to have been created in the 1980s and takes its name from the classic Chinese game ‘Mahjong’, from which it also borrows its tiles. However, the two games are very different, with the original ‘Mahjong’ being a multiplayer strategy game. The Charleston consists primarily of player exchanges of tiles. This allows players to get rid of unwanted tiles and improve their hands.
What are the different tile types in Mahjong?
It’s possible to also earn bonus points (these will be described later). Sometimes, the dragon is in a different color to other combinations, indicating it should NOT match the other suits (this is called "opposite dragon"). In addition to the regular tiles mentioned above, a Mah Jongg set also includes 8 jokers. Jokers are a wildcard and can substitute for any tile when building a hand. When playing with others, it’s essential to discuss and agree upon the specific rules you’ll be following. Different groups may have different preferences, so communication is key to ensure a smooth and enjoyable game. Digital versions of Mahjong Solitaire incorporate the same design and sounds when removing tiles, allowing play through software and apps with a finger tap or mouse click.
There are four red dragons represented by a bright red character, four green dragons represented by a bright green character and four white dragons represented by a completely blank tile. These Mahjong tiles have bamboo sticks that depict the strings that ancient copper coin sets of 100 or 1,000 coins were strung on. You usually play Mahjong with four people but as there are varieties, mahjong can be played by 2, 3 or even 5 players. The duration of each game of Mahjong depends on the players and their luck, as certain rounds can be over before the completion of a cycle. In general, games last 4 rounds each, averaging around 45 minutes per round.
Japanese mahjong has a special rule called sanchahō, which is, if three players claim the same discard in order to win, the hand is drawn. One reason for this is that there are cases in which bars of 1,000 points for declaring rīchi cannot be divided by three. The dealer marker is a round or square object that the dealer places to the side to remind players who the dealer is. The wind marker may be used which indicates the current prevailing wind.