This article is talking about the (arguably less known?) 4-player competitive game [2], and assumes you already know the difference (which some may not).
https://bamgoodtime.com/blog/history-of-american-mahjong
> What followed was one of the biggest game fads in American history. Between roughly 1922 and 1924, mahjong exploded across the United States. Department stores couldn't keep sets in stock. Demand grew so quickly that bone and bamboo tiles had to be imported from China in enormous quantities. Newspapers ran columns explaining the rules. Eddie Cantor performed a hit song called "Since Ma Is Playing Mah Jong." Fashion designers created mahjong-themed clothing. Entire social calendars reorganized around the game.
Reminds me of poker.
Also I miss the excitement of a new issue of a magazine with a demo disc of a few new games.
I only learned it was also multiplayer when it appeared in some movies.
for a more comprehensive visual guide
In China it turns out there are lots of rule sets. The city I'm currently living in (Changsha) has it's own ruleset for example, with less tiles than these examples.
I think mahjong is probably "house rules the game" though. Pretty sure most mahjong hands probably just were a result of some guy being like "hey this hand looks like it should be scored man".
Though I get the sense that, typically the easiest way to learn how to play a game, is to walk through actually playing the game. Listing out a bunch of facts about how the game works is mostly just confusing for a newcomer - the brain doesn't retain that kind of information well.
The example of this I often give is Magic: The Gathering. Very easy to learn how to play just by playing it with someone who knows. Very difficult to learn how to play if you start with a reference guide on how casting and the stack and priority and resolution works.
https://boardgametextbook.com/EBGRIA.pdf
Overview here: https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/13453/blogpost/164134/every-b...
We've been learning for a few years now and still ignore things like prevailing winds and I don't remember what else off the top of my head. Basically we have a document of our own rules and we add to it as we get more advanced. Eventually we'll play with the winds and seasons and the goal is Hong Kong scoring.
Don't even get me started on scoring when you are gambling (although the dynamics of who pays who and how much is interesting)
What has helped a LOT is we've developed a double sided sheet we print out with the basic game mechanics, tiles, and scoring. It still needs some tweaking but means our rules[1] are clear and we can quickly refer to them as we're playing.
We've a second sheet which shows the winds, once that's been decided we just just orientate it with the players.
[1] We're very aware there are lots of sets of rules, we've just decided on the ones we consistently play.
Interestingly, an experienced player proposed "Tibet rules," which are rules specifically for newbies that cut out a lot of the advanced mechanics: https://riichi.wiki/index.php?title=Tibet_rules&mobileaction...
If you have a Nintendo Switch, Clubhouse 51 games includes a pretty decent Riichi Mahjong mode that'll explain all the rules too.
> He has been playing mahjong since junior high school days, and admitted that though he has rarely lost a game when he was in school, his current level of ability is average. According to him, he has "tournament luck" and has even won mahjong tournaments between mahjong manga artists. He has also participated in professional mahjong matches. He played about two games against Akagi and Kaiji's voice actor Masato Hagiwara, who is known as one of the best mahjong players in the entertainment industry, and made Hagiwara say "I don't think I can beat him."
Did I miss it, or are the "base points" never explained?
I'd add the note that the whole strategy of mahjong really only gets interesting when you play repeated hands (a full game has at least 16 hands, with each player acting as the dealer once per prevailing wind) and when you're gambling (or otherwise tracking points). Most house rules also enforce a minimum fan value for a winning hand, banning the "chicken hand" which wins but scores no points. We play with a 2 fan minimum. If you just play for mahjong (i.e. a a hand that "wins" the round regardless of score), the game is a pretty uninteresting game of luck, and you're not incentivized to gun for the higher scoring hands.
Question for HN: I've seen more and more of these interactive explainers popping up recently. Given these are far more approachable to build due to LLM capabilities (e.g. Claude artifacts, open generative UI, etc.), what is the community reaction around having a product tailored for creating and distributing these experiences?
I've been experimenting over the past 6 months with interactive educational materials and curious on the community sentiment around this topic.
- For league play, the scoring hands change every year!
Break the wall
Whose wall?
Count the total counter-clockwise starting from the dealer (East = 1).
東 East 1 · 5 · 9
南 South 2 · 6 · 10
西 West 3 · 7 · 11
北 North 4 · 8 · 12
East -> South -> West -> North - is that not clockwise? What am I missing?
All chinese card games go counter-clockwise. And the compass directions have a standard order, from 1-4: ESWN. Which is why the seat order is not the same as it would be on a compass.
> N
> E W
> S
(sorry about formatting)
OP, can you please include Beijing rules?
TLDR: Download both Mahjong Soul and Kemono and play a lot. If you don't understand something then look up on the riichi wiki or ask the mahjong reddit or the Mahjong Soul Discord.
It's much much easier to learn riichi through a game then buying a set and sit down playing. Especially if it's 4 brand new players together.
Mind you riichi/mahjong doesn't have rules like chess which are set in stone. There are local rules, competitions differ, video games play differently. The core rules are the same but there are many many optional rules. A lot of confusion comes from this.
This is for example the comparison chart of popular riichi rulesets https://riichi.wiki/Comparison_of_popular_rulesets
That being said the riichi wiki is pretty good and has info about basically everything https://riichi.wiki/Main_Page
https://www.reddit.com/r/Mahjong/ is incredibly helpful for every ruleset not just riichi if you have questions like why I'm not winning (99 out of 100 times: no yaku) or which set to buy etc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlnC2rgIPrc This video if you want to play IRL. How to setup the table, the tiles, when to draw from where. Video games has the problem of "hiding" certain elements of the gameplay like how to draw from the dead wall after a kan and replenishing it.
This yaku, scoring, and teaching sheet for IRL play https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18hxO5DMVAqxSNV9VvpjA...
If you play IRL then the Riichi compass that you can use both as a quick calculator and as the name implies a compass: you put down in the middle on a phone/tablet, set up a new game and after that you use it as an automatic score calculator https://riichi.onecomp.one/
https://discord.com/invite/mahjongsoul if you have instant questions and need help
The riichi book is the next step once you understand the game and wants to learn strategies https://dainachiba.github.io/RiichiBooks/
As for where to play digitally:
- https://mahjongsoul.game.yo-star.com/ Mahjong Soul which is a gacha game but that doesn't affect the gameplay, pure cosmetic. It has a decent tutorial, very good QoL features helping the gameplay, and a big playerbase for PvP for every rank and custom modes. You can also play 3 player riichi (sanma) and there are custom lobbies where you can play with friends and setup your own rules (I actually learned here with people on a Discord call)
- https://www.mahjong-jp.com/ Riichi City which is the newer and main competitior of Mahjong Soul. I haven't played that much here but some people prefer this but there aren't that many differences either.
- https://tenhou.net/ (https://riichi.wiki/Tenhou.net) which is popular in Japan. It has less players than Mahjong Soul but some people say at higher ranks there are better gameplay, more skillful players. ymmv if you watch japanese streamers or pros they usually both play Tenhou and Mahjong Soul and reaching the top is a lot of time so doesn't really affect new players.
- https://cyberdog.ca/kemono-mahjong/ Kemono is not the best game but it has 2 very big pros: arguably the best tutorial how to play. And it has offline mode against AI characters. So if you mostly play on phone and want to play riichi while hiking in the Himalayas then Kemono is probably the best choice. The non-traditonal portrait mode on phone is different compared to other clients
- https://www.amatsukimahjong.com/en/ Has to mention this because it’s a good one where you can play multiple rulesets easily. HK, Taiwan, Riichi
