How to play mahjong
American Mah Jongg is a four-player tile game where you race to build a hand of 14 tiles that matches one on the official National Mah Jongg League card. Here is how the whole thing works, start to finish, for a complete beginner.
If you have ever watched a table of women laughing over clicking tiles and wondered how on earth it works, this is your way in. The version almost everyone in the US learns, and the one every group in Marin plays, is American Mah Jongg, which uses a card of winning hands from the National Mah Jongg League. Here is the whole game in plain language.
What you are trying to do
Four players sit around a table. Your goal is to be the first to build a complete hand of 14 tiles that matches one of the official hands printed on this year's NMJL card. When you do, you call out "Mah Jongg" and the hand is over. That is the whole point of the game: collect and swap tiles until your rack matches a hand on the card.
The tiles
A standard American set has 152 tiles in play. They break down like this:
A look at each kind of tile:
| Tile group | What it is | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Three suits | Dots, Bams and Craks, numbered 1 to 9 | 108 |
| Winds | East, South, West, North | 16 |
| Dragons | Red, Green and White (Soap) | 12 |
| Flowers | Decorative tiles used in many hands | 8 |
| Jokers | Wild tiles that stand in for others | 8 |
You do not need to memorize any of this to start. You will recognize the tiles within a game or two. New to the words? Keep the mahjong glossary open the first few times.
Setting up
Players build walls of tiles, then deal them out. East, the dealer, gets 14 tiles. Everyone else gets 13. You stand your tiles on a rack so only you can see them, and you take a quick look at the card to see which hands your tiles are closest to.
The Charleston
Here is the part that is unique to American Mah Jongg, and the part that makes it feel social from the very first minute. Before real play begins, there is a round of passing called the Charleston. You pass three tiles you do not want to the right, then across, then to the left, receiving three back each time. There is a second Charleston if everyone agrees, and it ends with an optional courtesy pass. The Charleston is how you quietly trade away the tiles that do not fit your plan and inch toward a hand on the card.
Beginner tip: during the Charleston, pass away tiles that do not appear in any hand you are considering, and hold flowers, jokers and anything that keeps two or more hands open. You do not have to commit to one hand yet.
Playing a turn
Once the Charleston is done, play moves around the table. On your turn you do two simple things:
- Pick a tile from the wall (or take the tile the previous player just discarded, if it completes part of your hand).
- Discard a tile you do not need, face up, calling its name out loud.
Any player can claim a discarded tile if it finishes a set they can expose, not just the next player in line. That is what keeps everyone paying attention even when it is not their turn.
Jokers
Jokers are wild. They can stand in for any tile inside a group of three or more of the same tile, which makes hard hands reachable. They cannot be used for a pair or for single tiles, and if another player has the real tile a joker is standing in for exposed on their rack, they can swap for your joker. Jokers are the great equalizer for beginners.
Winning
When your 14 tiles exactly match a hand on the card, you call "Mah Jongg", lay down your tiles to prove it, and you win that hand. Each hand on the card is worth a set number of points. If no one reaches Mah Jongg and the wall runs out, the hand is a "wall game" and no one wins. Then you shuffle and go again, which, if we are honest, is most of the fun.
How long until it clicks
Most people feel lost for about one game and comfortable by their third. That is completely normal. The fastest way through the awkward part is to play with people who already know, because they will nudge you in the right direction without making it a lecture.