Perhaps you've seen the tiles sitting with the dice in the cabinet of your local game store. Perhaps you've even seen it played, with four people sitting around a wall of tiles uttering phrases like "Pung" and "Chow". Or perhaps you only know Mah-Jongg from the popular computer solitare matching game (which has nothing in common with the actual game other than the tiles used). This ancient Chinese game offers a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon with friends.
The tiles used in Mah-Jongg are like the playing cards we use today. There
are three suits - bamboo, characters, and dots. Tiles are numbered from one
to nine, and there are four tiles of each denomination in each suit. There are
four tiles of each wind (N,S,E,W) and four tiles of each of three dragons (red,
white, and green). That comprises the basic Mah-Jongg set, and is all you need
to play Chinese Mah-Jongg.
However, there are other tiles that are used for variants, the four flowers
and four seasons. If you intend to play American Mah-Jongg, your set must include
eight blank joker tiles. Therefore, Mah-Jongg sets labeled "Chinese" or "Asian"
offer no jokers or four jokers. If you plan on playing American Mah-Jongg, you
must buy an American Mah-Jongg set. This contains all of the Chinese Mah-Jongg
tiles plus eight jokers.
The tiles are scrambled and built into a wall, two tiles deep. They are "dealt"
until each player has a hand of 13 tiles, and then the dealer takes a 14th tile.
The dealer discards the tile in front of him to begin play, and play continues
counterclockwise. Each player takes the next tile from the wall and discards
a tile in front of him/her (which allows for analysis of other player's hands).
Play is very similar to rummy; a winning hand in Mah-Jongg is four sets of three
and a pair of identical tiles. A set of three is defined as a "chow" if is it
a run in the same suit or a "pung" if it is three of a kind. A "kong" is all
four identical tiles, and is the only time a set of four is allowed in the hand.
There are a few twists which make the game more enjoyable than rummy, however.
If you have a pair of identical tiles and are waiting for a third, and an opponent
discards the tile you need, you can call out "Pung" and take the tile. You expose
that set (it is worth fewer points for doing this), and play continues counterclockwise
as if you had just taken a turn. You may do the same thing for a "Kong"; if
you have a concealed set of three in your hand and the fourth is discarded,
you can call it and expose your Kong (and an exposed Kong is worth more than
a concealed Pung). You may only call a discarded tile to complete a "Chow" (run)
if you are the next player to play. As Chows are worth no points and are much
easier to complete than Pungs, this has the effect of not disrupting the turn
order as much. You may always call for a discarded tile to complete a Mah-Jongg
and go out, regardless of what set it is completing. However, you may only call
a tile as it is being discarded. Once play continues, that tile is no longer
accessible. This avoids the frustration in rummy of seeing the card that you
need get discarded when your turn is not next, and the card is then lost.
Play continues until someone acquires the tile they need to complete their hand
and they call out Mah-Jongg (which is usually followed by the other players
saying naughty things and trying to figure out who was hanging on to "their
tiles). The hands are scored and play continues. Scoring Mah-Jongg is a gambling
game and therefore is a zero-sum game; anything that someone wins, someone else
loses. Therefore, while score can be kept with pencil and paper, it's easier
to use some sort of tokens. Plastic Mah-Jongg money is available for this purpose.
Points are awarded for Pungs and Kongs, but no points are awarded for Chows.
Sets are worth more points if they are concealed (completely drawn from the
wall) than if they are exposed (the final tile of that set was called for from
a discard). There is a also a bonus for going Mah-Jongg. After the base score
is figured, the doubling begins. Sets of dragons or certain winds (depending
upon where you are sitting and what the wind of the round is) double your score,
as do having no chows, all one suit, no winds/dragons, or all winds/dragons.
Because of all of the doubles available, scores can shoot up very quickly. For
this reason, most games set a limit on the points you can score in one hand
(usually 500 or 1000).
Local flavor is introduced into the game through limit hands. These hands are
special combinations of hands which score the limit. These hands have names
like the "Grand Reunion" (a set of each wind and a pair of dragons) and are
very difficult to achieve. Different tables will have different limit hands,
and it's useful to learn what these are before play begins. All players pay
the player who went Mah-Jongg the value of his hand, and then the other three
players pay each other the difference between their hands. The dealer is in
double jeopardy, as if he wins, all of the players must pay him double, but
if he loses, he pays double. If the dealer wins, the dealer continues to be
dealer. A full game of Mah-Jongg continues until each player has been dealer
four times. However, you can stop at any point as long as everyone has had the
same number of chances being dealer and have fair scoring.
Flowers and seasons are optional tiles and are purely random chance tiles for
free points. If you draw one, you play it in front of you and take a replacement
tile. At the end, bonus points (and some doubles) are awarded for having flowers
and seasons. Personally, our group doesn't play with this variant as they are
just random point awards.
Mah-Jongg became very popular in the 1920's in America. During this time, people began focusing on the limit hands and took them to an extreme - the only way you could go out was to match one of a limit hand from a list. The National Mah-Jongg League puts out this list, and in order to keep the games interesting, the official list changes every year. This laminated list costs about $5, and each player needs to have one to play American-style Mah-Jongg. There are several differences between American and Chinese Mah-Jongg. In American, play starts with a "Charleston", that is the swapping of sets of tiles with each other player. There are jokers, which are used to help you complete these specified hands. When I was taught this style, I was taught to haphazardly put my discards out (instead of keeping them in front of me), and to "make it hard for the other players to track what has been discarded". (I would guess this was just a local tradition and not part of the National Maj-Jongg League's rules).
I find Chinese Mah-Jongg to be a very relaxing game. As discards are kept in front of each player, you don't need to rely on memorized who discarded what. Once everyeone is comfortable with the game, it makes for a nice social game. However, I found the play of the National Mah-Jongg League to be frustrating. The time was spent trying to match up one of 20 or so hands from a card instead of just building sets. The game felt very forced and stilted because of it. Therefore, if you've only tried American Mah-Jongg, I would suggest you try Chinese Mah-Jongg before giving up the game.
There are several ways to play Mah-Jongg on the computer. Shanghai Dynasty, by Activision, is one of a handful of computer games that contain not only Mah-Jongg, but the solitaire game which uses the Mah-Jongg tiles (as well as several interesting variants). There are also other computer Mah-Jongg games, such as MJ99 and Nine Dragon's Hong Kong MahJong for Windows. You can also play for free on the Internet. Yahoo Games(http://games.yahoo.com) and the Internet MahJong server (http://mahjong.real-time.com/) are two places to go up against others in live-time. If you have not played before, I would suggest starting at Yahoo Games, in the beginner's room. When I was learning, I went to the Internet MahJong server and was berated for taking too much time in making up my mind. Once you have the hang of the game, you can play very quickly, but I find that many online players don't have the patience for beginners.
Since I introduced Mah-Jongg to my gaming group, it seems that someone calls for it every play session. It's enjoyable and relaxing, and better than most other "traditional" card games. It's not hard to learn, but has a lot going on. It's also a very elegant-looking and feeling game with the thick Mah-Jongg tiles. You can get starter Mah-Jongg sets for $50-$75, but you can also get Mah-Jongg cards for $10-$15. The cards would allow you to see if your group really enjoys the game before investing in the tiles. If you try playing online, and you see "snicholson" in Yahoo games, drop by and say "Howdy!"