Classic Mahjong Game You Might Have Never Tried
Free mahjong games online have popularised the classic Chinese tile matching game. However, these are principally mahjongg solitaire games. Also known as Shanghai, they use the same tiles, but have different rules. Thus, let us today tackle upon the basics of the ancient mahjong strategy game.
There are lots of variations to the game, mostly dealing with the scoring system and the number of tiles. Most often this board game is played by four, with one player against the rest. Though in Japan they have an adaptation for three players, which is sometimes considered less balanced. Devoted game masters also play time-based mahjong for additional challenge.
Mahjong tiles
The classic mahjong game is played with 144 mahjong tiles, comprising suites, honor tiles, and two types of bonus tiles. As for suits, these are three sets of 9 tiles, known often numbered for convenience, and are mostly referred to as characters, dots (also coins, circles or wheels) and bamboo (or sticks). There are 4 sets of each suit in the pull.
Honor tiles are divided into Dragons (Red, Green and White) and Winds (East, North, West and South). The legend has it that the game of mahjong was created by the great Chinese philosopher Confucius, and the dragons represent the virtues of loyalty, filial piety and righteousness. Like the suits, there are four copies of each Honors tile in the pull.
Bonus tiles are optional for some regional variations of mahjong. Perhaps, that is the reason why there is only one copy of each set in the pull. The sets are known as Seasons (Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring) and Flowers (Bamboo, Orchid, Plum Blossom and Chrysanthemum).
Common mahjong rules
At the beginning of the game every player receives 13 tiles, while the remaining form a wall. On their turn, the players take a tile from the wall and discard one they don’t need. It consists of four sets, referred to as melds, and a single pair of identical tiles.
While the winning combination can only be made when a player draws the 14th winning tile from the wall, melds can be declared throughout the game for additional score. Melds are somewhat similar to yahtzee sets combinations. Thus, Chow is a straight of three tiles from the same suit (e.g. 4,5, and 6 circles). Pong is three of a kind, and Kong is four of a kind. In different mahjongg versions melds are allowed to be collected of discarded tiles, and have to be left opened till the end once declared.
Requiring a good deal of strategy, mah-jong might be rather attributed to skill games. Nevertheless, players are also known to have certain superstitions aimed to avert bad luck. True mahjong masters never tell their secrets.
If you enjoy thinking games, this board games classics is really worth trying. However, if you are more into single player tile matching games, you would probably prefer Shanghai mahjong.
