h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: How to play Mah Jong - A3634120
Author: Blackberry Cat (*-O TO), FMA, Everything is less than zero - U516189

This is a joint entry by Jinjer Tom and Blackberry Cat. Links are still to be added but otherwise it is complete IMO. Hope you like it.

Jinjer Tom is U1519700.

Thats a really good write up BC - I've often played the single game (removing pairs from a stack) but not known how to play the game proper.

Now I do.

Thankyou

Hmmm... I have a Mah Jong set, now I can learn how to use it! Very straightforward and clearly laid-out.

Incidentally, is 'Mah Jong' considered to be the standard English spelling? I've seen it spelt so many different ways, as is often the case with transliterated words.

I'm not sure there is a standard spelling
I've always spelt it that way but I've also seen it spelt
Mah Jongg, Mahjong, and Mah-jong
Good point - I'll check my dictionary and seewhat it says

There seem to be four different versions of Mah Jong:

American Rules (very popular in America in the 1920s)
Japanese
Classic Chinese (rather complex scoring system)
Hong Kong System (simplified scoring)

This entry seems to be describing the American version, but I'm not sure. It certainly is not the Hong Kong one which I'm familiar with. I dont expect you to cover all four, but you should at least mention that there are different versions.

Good entry!

I like this game a lot. We play vaguely the same rules as are described here, but the set we have (1960s) describes a lot more special hands with westernised names - including 'knitting' and a 'wriggly baby'. On the other hand the scoring was much simplified - you just write down the score you have.

We were always told that in Hong Kong Maj Jong was played

1) very quickly
2) for money
3) with the tiles discarded face down

If this is in anyway true, you might want to add a note.

I can't remember - did you cover the bit with dice at the beginning that determines whose wall you start with?

Also - social rule, if you fail to spot a kong or whatever, before the next person has gone to pick, then it's too late (unless you are a small child ). And you pronounce the tile out loud as you discard.

Might think of more later.

sprout

Thanks for the comments
I've been doing a bit more reading and there are endless versions (Taiwanese, Japanese, Vietnamese, numerous Western etc) but the 4 you discribe are the main Gnomon. I'll add a little more about history and development, try and determine exactly which version my set is, and include more details in the section on varients.
Why do these seemingly simple entries keep expanding?

I've an excellent computer program called, simply, "Hong Kong Mah Jong". Each round is usually very quick (about 2 minutes max). Only in the very hardest level do you play with tiles discarded face down. The special tiles are different from the ones you describe: there are four red flowers and four blue flowers.

I've changed a few bits and pieces and added some links but the main change, adding more details about the main other varieties of Mah Jong, will have to wait until next week as I am going to a wedding this weekend and won't be able to look at it then.

My father plays this online all the time. He prefers it to patience.

Well done.

smiley campaign A4521214

I don't understand some things.

When can you declare a standing hand? When can you NOT declare a standing hand? Are you saying out loud which specific tile you are looking for, or only that you are looking for a specific tile? It seems to me you should always be able to do this just before you go Mah Jong. Are you merely gambling that noone has the tile you want, or are you just saying you're lucky?

What does "winning with the only possible piece" mean? Given how circumscribed your final hand must be in order to declare Mah Johng, isn't the last piece you pick up always the only possible one?

Why should it matter whether or not someone gets consecutive Mah Jong? There isn't any score for doing it that I can see. Does the game end at Mah Jong #13 no matter how many Winds have passed? What happens when they get 14th Mah Jong, do they not win any points for it?

I don't understand the "difference of scores" at all.

How do you know the game is over? Does it stop at the first limiting hand, or does it keep on going and going until everyone has been East Wind for all of the Winds? In poker, you can limit how much (chips, points, Euro etc.) you lose, but this doesn't seem possible for Mah Jong based on what I have read.

Anything going on here?

Just to let you know the entry hasn't been abandoned and hopefully will add some more stuff this week, sorry about the absence, personal stuff

I do hope you can come back to this, Blackberry Cat , as it only needs a final polish for it to be ready. I'd be half-tempted to call a Scout over as it is, to be fair as it looks great.

I don't think BC is going to be able to work on this for a while, and in my opinion the work that needs doing to it is mostly just polishing, albeit a lot of polishing as it's quite a long entry.

Alex

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