How to play › The mahjong tiles
The mahjong tiles
A mahjong set looks like a lot to take in, but it is mostly three suits numbered 1 to 9, much like playing cards. Here is every kind of tile you will meet.
The three suits
Each suit runs from 1 to 9. Tiles from the same suit can make runs, like 3-4-5.
Dots
Circles. Count them to read the number.
Bamboo
Sticks. Count them the same way.
Characters
The Chinese numbers one to nine, each above the red character 萬.
Honors: winds and dragons
Honor tiles have no numbers, so they never make runs. You can only collect them as matching sets or as a pair.
The four winds
East, South, West and North.
The three dragons
Red, green and white. The white dragon is the empty blue frame.
How many of each?
There are four copies of every suit tile and every honor tile. That is why three of a kind is common and four of a kind is possible: the fourth tile is always out there somewhere.
Flowers
Flowers are bonus tiles, and there is just one of each: four flowers and four seasons.
They never go in your hand. When you draw one, it sits beside your name and you take a spare tile from the end of the wall to replace it. In Mala Mahjong that happens on its own, so you never have to do anything with them.
Learn it by playing
Mala Mahjong is a cozy iPhone game, coming soon, that teaches all of this as you go. A panda walks you through real moments from a game, and you can ask for help on any turn.
Join the waitlist