How to play Mahjong

Mahjong is the four-player tile game of draw and discard, played around the world for more than a century. Here you play the Hong Kong style, the one most families and clubs learn first outside the United States. The aim fits in one line: four sets and a pair.

The tiles

Three suits, Dots, Bamboo and Characters, numbered 1 to 9, four of each.
The four Winds (East, South, West, North) and three Dragons (Red, Green, White), four of each.
Eight Flowers and Seasons. They are set aside the moment you get one, you draw a replacement, and they can add points.

Sets

Pung: three of the same tile.
Kong: four of the same. It counts as a set and you draw an extra tile.
Chow: three in a row of one suit, like 4-5-6 of Bamboo. Winds and Dragons only make pungs.

A turn

Everyone has 13 tiles; the dealer starts with 14. On your turn you draw a tile from the wall, then discard one face up. When someone discards a tile you need, you can take it out of turn: a pung or kong from anyone, a chow only from the player right before you, or the tile that completes your hand from anyone. A taken set goes face up beside your hand, and then you discard.

Mahjong!

When your 14 tiles make four sets and a pair, call Mahjong. If you drew the winning tile yourself, everyone pays you. If you won on a discard, the player who threw it pays. There is one special hand too: thirteen orphans, one of every 1, 9, Wind and Dragon plus a pair of any of them.

Faan: what a hand is worth

1 faan each: drawing the winning tile yourself, a concealed hand, all chows, no flowers, a pung of Dragons, of your own Wind or of the round's Wind, your own flower.
3 faan: all pungs, or one suit with Winds and Dragons. 7 faan: one suit only.
Big hands: small three Dragons 5, big three Dragons 8, and the limit (10) for all honors, big four Winds or thirteen orphans.

More faan means more points: 1 faan is 2 points, 3 faan is 8, 5 is 24, and the limit is 128. With the club rule in Settings, a hand needs at least 3 faan to win.

Tips for new players

Let go of lone honors early. A single Wind or Dragon rarely becomes a set; two of them might.
Keep neighbors. 4-5 of a suit waits for a 3 or a 6: two chances.
Do not take everything. Every taken set shows your hand and loses the concealed bonus.
Watch the discards. Late in the hand, throw tiles others have already thrown: they are safe.

Questions

Is this American Mahjong? No. American Mahjong is played with a yearly card of required hands. This is the Hong Kong game, where any four sets and a pair wins.

Can I play with friends? Yes. Choose "Play with friends" and send the link, or read out the four-letter table code. Everyone plays on their own phone, nobody sees the other hands, and the computer fills open seats.

Do I need an account? No. Your game is saved in this browser, so you can close the page and come back.