People have been enjoying Mahjong for hundreds of years, and since its original inception in China, it’s spread across the world to become one of the most popular tabletop games of all time.
Perhaps you’ve seen the game being played in a coffee shop or came across a video on YouTube and thought you’d like to give it a go; maybe you’re looking for a new game to play with your friends to exercise your competitive streak. Whatever your reasons, as is the case with any game, you’re going to need to spend some time getting the basics down before you start playing for real.
In this article, you’ll learn how to start playing Mahjong and, importantly, how to gradually improve your skills!
What Is Mahjong?
Mahjong is a tile-based tabletop game played with a set of 144 tiles. The images on these tiles are separated into different types and categories.
The main objective is to discard and acquire tiles until you have what’s known as a complete hand: a hand consisting of three or four tiles and a pair.
Image Credit: Pexels
There are many different versions of Mahjong, but the most commonly played types are Chinese, Japanese, and American. The game itself is relatively easy to pick up but has a lot of depth and strategy to it.
Tile Types and Categories
Part of the challenge with Mahjong is remembering all the different tile types and categories, both to know how to win in the first place and to plan ahead by watching what your opponent is doing. There are three main categories, each of which includes different types of tiles:
Suit Tiles
- Bamboo
- Dots
- Characters
Honor Tiles:
- Wind Tiles
- Dragon Tiles
Bonus Tiles
- Flowers
- Seasons
Each tile is different in the sort of function it serves, and you’ll not only need to understand each of these functions but also recognize them quickly enough when a game is in session.
Setting Up Your First Game
Mahjong has quite an unusual appearance when it’s fully set up, which is often what initially draws people’s interest when they see it being played.
To set things up, you’ll start by building the segment of the table called the wall: tiles are shuffled and then arranged as a stack that’s two tiles tall.
Players then roll the dice to decide who will be the dealer. The dealer then distributes 13 tiles to each player and an extra one to themselves. After this, you’re ready to start playing!
How to Play the Game
The basic process involves players taking turns to draw and discard their tiles as they work towards getting a complete hand. Tiles are either drawn directly from the wall or taken from the discard pile. Your main objective as you play is to create sets, which are categorized like this:
Chow: Three tiles in a row of the same suit.
Kong: Four identical tiles.
Pong: Three identical tiles.
Pair: A single pair of matching tiles.
After drawing, the player discards a tile to ensure they’re always holding 13.
The winner is declared once they form the complete hand, which is four sets and a pair (though some variations of the game change the win conditions slightly).
Developing a Winning Strategy
Getting good takes a lot of time and practice, so that’s the most important thing for improving your odds of winning: try to get a game in as often as possible – online versions offer a great opportunity to do so.
Beyond this, most players would agree that a key part of Mahjong is staying flexible. No one game of Mahjong is the same as the next, so it’s difficult to use a sure-fire strategy that’ll work every time. Instead, work on your ability to adapt based on the tiles you draw and what other players are discarding.
On the topic of discarding, remember that the tiles you get rid of could help another player to complete their hand. Don’t focus too much on your own hand that you forget to try and understand what your opponent is going for, as predicting what the other player will do next and gaining insight into their strategy is a fundamental part of higher-level playing.
Wrapping Up
Getting better at Mahjong will undoubtedly take a great degree of effort, but just remember: with every game you play you get that little bit better. You can gain insight from playing with people of all skill types, so schedule in some practice sessions, and you’ll become a competent player in no time!
Featured Image Credit: Pexels
