How to Play Mahjong

The history of Mahjong

Mahjong dates back to the mid-1800s. It was developed in Southern China near the end of the Qing Dynasty. The name Mahjong means “sparrow” and is said to be in reference to the clacking sound the tiles make when they are being shuffled around. The game has been embraced all over the world, with one tournament on record lasting 33 hours long in Russia. Mahjong has a history of building community and spanning generations, with people of all ages notably playing together throughout the years – aka it’s the perfect excuse to get those grandkids off their phones to have some fun with you!

The rules of the game

Mahjong is typically played with four players and a set of tiles. There is an American and Chinese version, which have a few differences. For instance, American Mahjong generally uses 152 tiles, while Chinese Mahjong uses 144 tiles. In the United States, American Mahjong is the more popular version. And unlike its traditional Chinese counterpart, American Mahjong incorporates a variety of unique hands inside its annual playing card and joker tiles, making it what some consider a more complex and strategic game.

The 152 tiles in an American Mahjong set include:

• Tiles that are numbered 1 to 9 and come in 3 different suits: Dots, Bams (Bamboo), and Cracks (Characters), each ranging from numbers 1 to 9.
• Winds: There are 4 different types of the wind tile: East, South, West, and North. 
• Dragons: There are 3 types of dragon tiles: Red, Green, and White, each of which are associated with a suit. So Bams go with green dragons, cracks with red dragons and dots with white dragons. 
• Flowers: There are 8 flower tiles in a game of Mahjong. 
• Jokers: There are 8 of these in a game. They serve as a wildcard and can be substituted for any tile when in the process of building a hand.

“To play, each player starts with 13 tiles, and the goal is to be the first to form a complete hand, 14 tiles,” says Mahj Uni of the company Oh My Mahjong. The dealer starts with 14 tiles. “Players draw and discard tiles in turns, aiming to complete their hands according to a specific card issued annually by the National Mah Jongg League, which outlines winning combinations for that year,” Uni explains. The goal is to create a winning hand using 14 tiles that match what’s on the official National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) card. This makes the game extra fun because you have to quickly match patterns with the tiles you’re dealt to the official card. And just when you think you’ve got it all down, the NJML publishes an official playbook every year and the winning hand combinations change along with it. The first player who gets a match yells out “Mahjong” and if their hand matches the card, they win the game. 

Here are a few additional helpful tidbits about the game.

The Card uses a set of abbreviations that include:

1 to 9 for the numbered tiles

D: for Dragon

F: for Flower

N, E, W, S: for North, East, West, South winds

O: for White Dragon

Wind indicators are used to display the current wind – aka the player who starts off the round. The game also comes with scoring sticks or coins to help players keep track of points. You can also use racks to store your tiles and pushers to help you move your tiles into the center of the game.

There are some additional special features of the game including Charleston: a series of tile exchanges before the game where players pass tiles to each other in order to improve their hands. And of course, things get extra competitive when a joker comes out, as that can serve as any tile in a set.