How do you play mahjong?

Answer 1

Mah Jong is an ancient Chinese game played using tiles like Western cards.

There are 144 tiles in a standard Mah Jong set (excluding jokers), which include:

Three suits of numerical tiles, counting 1 to 9 (Wan, Bamboo and Dots) (Four of Each)

Three different Dragon tiles (Red, Green and White) (Four of Each)

Four different wind tiles (North, South, East, West) (Four of Each)

Most sets also include four Flower tiles and Four Season or Trade tiles.

Mah Jong is played similarly to Western Rummy games, with the purpose being to form sets in ones' hands, specifically four sets of three, and a pair. A set is any three identical tiles, or any run of three numerical tiles. Each turn, a player draws a tile, and discards a tile. If another player discards a tile one player needs to complete a set, the player may declare as much, and claim the tile.

The game is one when a person draws a tile that completes their hand, and they declare Mah Jong. Hands are then scored based on the kind of sets, and their suits.

Typically, four rounds are played, with whomever has scored the most points at the end of the ruins being the winner.

There is also a popularized version, called Mah Jong Solitaire, which is what most recognize when one refers to "Mah Jong", where the tiles are arranged in shapes and removed in pairs, the purpose being to remove all tiles.